Some Bermuda-based companies are the subject of US corporate bribery probes, according to a report in the UK press.

The Financial Times reported that companies based in the UK, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands account for 16 of the 29 ongoing investigations in Washington's fast-expanding assault on graft by overseas companies, according to research by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The Island also figures third, after the UK and the US, in terms of companies being investigated by the US regulators over corruption claims.

The Freshfields' figures show that US companies account for 64 out of 93 cases being pursued by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission — Britain, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are in second, third and fourth places.

Bruce Yannett, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, the US law firm, told the FT that while there were a number of factors behind the large number of British-linked probes in the US, one was Washington's unhappiness with London's performance on tackling bribery.

He said: "If the US authorities feel there is weak enforcement, they will play the role of policeman. It's fair to say Britain's track record in this particular area has not been as aggressive as it could be."

The US action on bribery, which Freshfields says has resulted in more than $1 billion in fines on 43 companies over the past two years, contrasts with the single successful graft prosecution mounted in Britain against a Norwegian businessman and his Ugandan accomplice.

The US-related corruption risks facing British businesses and managers have been highlighted by cases such as the almost $200,000 (£124,000) in penalties paid by three UK oil services executives in 2006 to settle bribery allegations brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The three men, who did not admit or deny the allegations, were accused with an accomplice of lavishing $800,000 in bribes and almost $200,000 in hospitality, such as hotels and meals, on Nigerian officials to win a $180 million offshore oil drilling contract.

Lawyers told the FT other reasons why Washington focuses sharply on British-linked companies and executives are the size of the money flows through the UK and its tax havens, the cultural links these jurisdictions have with the US, and their relative willingness to co-operate compared with some other countries.

While the US investigation list includes companies from a number of other European nations and a handful from elsewhere, businesses from the expanding economic powers of China, India and Russia are notably absent.

The US data raises further questions about the role of corruption conduits played by leading offshore financial centres, many of which are British overseas territories or dependencies.

Offshore centres such as the British Virgin Islands — as well as onshore jurisdictions such as the US state of Delaware — are popular in corrupt deals because of their privacy rules.

Helen Garlick, former head of the Serious Fraud Office's anti-corruption unit and a consultant at Nardello & Co, a private investigator, told the FT that Britain's dependencies tended "to be the place where so much dirty money ends up".