Airbus fined €3.6bn for global bribery scandal

One of Bristol's biggest firms used bribes to stack the decks in its favour and win contracts around the globe

One of Bristol’s biggest firms has been forced to pay almost a billion pounds in fines and costs after a huge global bribery and corruption scandal.

Airbus, which employs around 4,500 people at its site in Filton, has signed a deal with the Serious Fraud Office in Britain and similar agreements with the authorities in France and the USA, bringing to an end a four-year bribery investigation.

Together with fines and costs in the US and France, the firm will pay a total of €3.6bn, including €991m in Britain, in what is known as a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).

That DPA means the Serious Fraud Office ends its investigation on the promise Airbus bosses will co-operate with future investigations, and not try to claim back the penalty against tax in this country.

The fines and costs amount to the biggest ever settlement of its kind, and relate to a huge investigation across four continents undertaken by financial authorities.

The Serious Fraud Office said they began investigating Airbus over allegations it had used external consultants to bribe customers to buy its civilian and military aircrafts.

“The indictment, which has been suspended for the term of the DPA, covers five counts of failure to prevent bribery,” a spokesperson for the SFA said.

“The conduct involves Airbus’ Commercial and Defence & Space divisions. The conduct covered by the UK DPA took place across five jurisdictions: Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Ghana between 2011 and 2015.

“The Judge ruled today in a public hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice that the total sum (€983.97m plus the SFO’s costs of €6.9m) reflected the gravity of the conduct, the full cooperation of Airbus SE in the investigation, and the programme of corporate reform and compliance put in place by new leadership at the top of the company,” he added.

In her judgment, Dame Victoria Sharp said: “The seriousness of the criminality in this case hardly needs to be spelled out. As is acknowledged on all sides, it was grave.

“The conduct took place over many years. It is no exaggeration to describe the investigation it gave rise to as worldwide, extending into every continent in which Airbus operates.

“The number of countries subject to intense criminal investigation by the various agencies, and the scale and scope of the wrongdoing disclosed in the Statement of Facts demonstrate that bribery was to the extent indicated, endemic in two core business areas within Airbus,” she added.

The director of the SFO said Airbus had paid bribes around the world to win contracts. She added an investigation into what Airbus did remains active and the position relating to individuals within the company ‘is being considered’.

“Airbus paid bribes through agents around the world to stack the decks in its favour and win contracts around the globe,” said Lisa Osofsky, the director of the SFO.

“Corruption like this undermines free trade and fair development and it is to Airbus’s credit it has admitted its culpability, cleaned its house and come forward to put this conduct to bed.

“A resolution of this scope would not have been possible without the commitment, determination and hard work of SFO staff and our French and American colleagues.  We are also indebted to law-enforcement partners around the world for the support they provided in securing this record-breaking resolution,” she added.

Airbus acknowledged the multi-billion pound fine in its annual accounts released this week, and said the settlements in the DPA meant it was able to ‘turn the page on unacceptable business practices’ of the past.

“Airbus has taken significant steps to reform itself and to ensure that this conduct will not reoccur,” said a spokesperson. “Airbus has significantly enhanced its compliance system under the supervision of an Independent Compliance Review Panel. The Company is committed to conducting business with integrity,” he added.

Denis Ranque, the company’s chairman of the board of directors, said: “The settlements we have reached today turn the page on unacceptable business practices from the past. The strengthening of our compliance programmes at Airbus is designed to ensure that such misconduct cannot happen again.

“The agreements also reflect that the decision to voluntarily report and cooperate with the authorities was the right one. The commitment from the Board, and its Ethics and Compliance Committee, to provide full support to the investigation and the implementation of globally recognised compliance standards have paved the way to today’s agreements.”

And Guillaume Faury, the Chief Executive Officer of Airbus, added: “The agreements approved today with the French, UK, and US authorities represent a very important milestone for us, allowing Airbus to move forward and further grow in a sustainable and responsible way.

“The lessons learned enable Airbus to position itself as the trusted and reliable partner we want to be,” he said.