Alstom, the French engineering giant, has confirmed that Swiss regulators have approached its staff as part of an investigation into bribery allegations.

However, the Paris-based group, responding to media reports that it is being investigated over alleged bribery payments made between 1995 and 2003, has insisted that the investigation by Swiss authorities was not aimed at Alstom.

Siemens, Alstom's German rival, is being investigated for alleged bribery involving payments totalling at least €1.3 billion (£1 billion).

The French engineering outfit said in a statement: "Alstom stresses that no legal procedure has targeted the company in the matter of corruption."

Alstom said that an unspecified number of people currently employed by the group were being questioned as witnesses "in the context of a procedure launched in Switzerland and which does not target Alstom".

The news also coincides with the release of an independent review of the anti-corruption practices of BAE Systems, the defence group which has been embroiled in bribery allegations.

According to The Wall Street Journal, French and Swiss authorities are investigating allegations that Alstom paid bribes to win contracts in Asia and South America.

Last week, Swiss police officials met with their counterparts in Brazil regarding suspected payments of $6.8 million (£3.5 million) to win a $45 million contract to install equipment for the expansion of a subway in São Paulo, the newspaper reported.

Investigators are also looking into $200 million in suspicious payments made in relation to other projects in South America and Asia, it said.

The investigation was sparked by auditors at KPMG Fides Peat in Switzerland working for the Swiss Federal Banking Commission in 2004 after they stumbled upon documents detailing the transfer of €20 million by Alstom into various shell companies, the WSJ said.

Fred Einbinder, the firm's geneal counsel, and Jean-Daniel Laine, its compliance chief, were questioned by a French investigative magistrate in February, it said.

The article said that Michael Mignot, a former Alstom consultant, and Yves Barbier de la Serre, who was a chief operating officer at one of the company's subsidiaries, have made statements to the French police saying that the company made commissions to win contracts betweeen 1998 and 2003.

However, the company said today that the report was based on speculation.

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