It comes one year after the British company warned that it might be prosecuted over alleged "malpractice" in Indonesia and China after passing on information related to bribery concerns to the office.
"Further to our announcement of December 6th 2012 relating to concerns about bribery and corruption in overseas markets, we have been informed by the Serious Fraud Office that it has now commenced a formal investigation into these matters," Rolls-Royce said in a statement.
The SFO had yet to issue a statement on the development.