UK probe into ‘irregularities’ at Airbus may affect orders
Print Edition
AIRBUS Group is bracing for a lengthy period of uncertainty over its core commercial jetliner business after Britain said it would examine suspected irregularities in the use of third-party agents to win contracts.
Europe’s largest aerospace company said late last Sunday it had been notified that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office had opened a formal criminal probe after being alerted by the country’s export credit agency to discrepancies relating to the disclosure of the work of local agents.
The probe raises a sensitive issue for the industry because the agency, UK Export Finance, has for years locked horns with aerospace firms about the need for more transparency, even though it does not object outright to the use of intermediaries.
Airbus Group said the SFO was looking into possible “fraud, bribery and corruption” and that the company continued to co-operate with the investigating agency, having itself tipped off UKEF about internal findings under a recent compliance drive.
“It will take years,” a person familiar with the matter said of the SFO investigation, adding it was too early to predict any outcome or consequences.
Airbus Group is already the subject of a four-year-old SFO investigation into a US$3.3 billion communications deal with Saudi Arabia, while the SFO is conducting a corruption probe into engine maker Rolls-Royce which it launched in 2013.
The latest case involves discrepancies over the amount of agents’ fees disclosed in applications for export support, or missing names of third parties, in some cases dating back years, people familiar with the matter have said.
In April, UKEF halted export funding pending a compliance review and was swiftly followed by France and Germany.
Since 2006, companies applying for export support in Britain have had to identify any intermediaries involved in sales negotiations and list the sums paid.
The rules followed a series of policy U-turns and a fierce debate between UKEF and aerospace companies including Airbus, which had lobbied against the tougher disclosure rules on the grounds that such data was commercially sensitive and that their own codes of conduct and due diligence methods were sufficient.
Airbus Group shares fell as much as 1.8 percent on Monday, driven by concern over the probe. The longer-term impact may depend upon how widely the probe spreads and the level of managers who signed off on payments that can be worth millions of dollars, as well as the declarations to export agencies, analysts said.
A spokesman declined to comment on any details of the investigation beyond Sunday’s brief statement.
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