Forty years on, Lockheed asks a federal court to give the company a break

For 40 years now, first Lockheed Aircraft Corp. and later Lockheed Martin Corp. have had to disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission every little change made to its anti-corruption policies and procedures. Now the Bethesda-based defense giant is asking the court to give the company a break.

At issue is not the disclosures themselves, but the paperwork involved. Lockheed argues that rules have changed since 1976, when the U.S. District Court in D.C. issued requirements tied to alleged payments…