Last month, the U.K.’s anti-corruption enforcement agency, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery, and corruption in the civil aviation business of Airbus. The key area of concern is Airbus’ use of third-party consultants to win contracts to build passenger jets.
The European aircraft manufacturer issued a terse statement on 7 August (though the SFO had notified it two days earlier that there would be a criminal inquiry). It confirmed that the agency was conducting a criminal investigation “relating to irregularities concerning third-party consultants,” whereby the company failed to notify authorities on the use of third-party agents in deals that it was asking the U.K. government to cover with financing guarantees. Airbus—which self-reported the alleged corruption to the SFO in March after conducting an internal compliance review—added that it is cooperating with the agency.
