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Home / Issues / Coordinated France-UK-US resolution of bribery and ITAR allegations against Airbus SE (January 2020)

Coordinated France-UK-US resolution of bribery and ITAR allegations against Airbus SE (January 2020)

Settledas of 31 Oct 2026France; United Kingdom; United StatesAirbus SEdraft

Current status

Confirmed fact · as of 31 Jan 2020
Airbus resolved the UK matter by a deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO (approved by the High Court) and the US matter by a DOJ deferred prosecution agreement - both DPAs, not convictions and not guilty pleas.
A UK Serious Fraud Office, SFO enters into EUR991m Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Airbus as part of a EUR3.6bn global resolution (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · A U.S. Department of Justice, Airbus Agrees to Pay Over $3.9 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery and ITAR Case (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Confirmed fact · as of 31 Jan 2020
The French resolution is a convention judiciaire d'interet public (CJIP) with the PNF for more than EUR 2bn, which under French law carries no admission of guilt and no conviction.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Airbus Agrees to Pay Over $3.9 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery and ITAR Case (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · B Airbus SE, Airbus reaches agreements with French, UK and US authorities (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Unanswered question · as of 31 Jan 2020
The primary PNF/CJIP document itself was not directly retrieved for this record; the French CJIP amount (about EUR 2.08bn) and its no-admission-of-guilt character are drawn from the UK SFO and US DOJ primary releases and from Airbus's own statement. The exact per-jurisdiction USD/EUR credit allocations are summarised, not itemised, in the sources relied on here.
A UK Serious Fraud Office, SFO enters into EUR991m Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Airbus as part of a EUR3.6bn global resolution (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · B Airbus SE, Airbus reaches agreements with French, UK and US authorities (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Last reviewed 31 Oct 2026. An initial allegation is not the final event; this block is always shown.

How it unfolded

Issue raised · 31 Jan 2020
Proposition: Authorities in France, the UK and the US alleged that Airbus SE engaged in a long-running scheme to use third-party business partners and intermediaries to bribe foreign government officials and private-sector decision-makers to obtain or retain business, in breach of the UK Bribery Act 2010 (failure to prevent bribery), the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act anti-bribery provisions and, separately, that Airbus wilfully failed to disclose political contributions, commissions and fees in export licence applications in violation of the US Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Affected parties: Airbus SE, France Parquet National Financier, UK Serious Fraud Office, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls
Originating record: A U.S. Department of Justice, Airbus Agrees to Pay Over $3.9 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery and ITAR Case (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Response · Airbus SE · 31 Jan 2020
Attributed claim · as of 31 Jan 2020
Airbus said it had reached final agreements with the French Parquet National Financier (a convention judiciaire d'interet public), the UK Serious Fraud Office (a deferred prosecution agreement) and the US Department of Justice (a deferred prosecution agreement), plus a US State Department consent agreement on ITAR matters, together totalling about EUR 3.6bn. Chairman Denis Ranque referred to 'unacceptable business practices from the past' and said Airbus had reported the matter and cooperated; CEO Guillaume Faury called the agreements 'a very important milestone' allowing the company to move forward. Airbus stated that the French and UK agreements do not amount to an admission of liability and that it could not comment on the authorities' published Statements of Facts, and it described significant strengthening of its compliance system under an Independent Compliance Review Panel. — Airbus SE
B Airbus SE, Airbus reaches agreements with French, UK and US authorities (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Outcome · France Parquet National Financier (CJIP); UK Serious Fraud Office (deferred prosecution agreement approved by the High Court, Dame Victoria Sharp); U.S. Department of Justice (deferred prosecution agreement); U.S. Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (consent agreement) · 31 Jan 2020
settlementbinding
Confirmed fact · as of 31 Jan 2020
On 31 January 2020 Airbus SE resolved the matters through parallel negotiated agreements totalling more than USD 3.9bn / about EUR 3.6bn (EUR 3,592,766,766 across the three countries). NONE of the three main resolutions is a criminal conviction. (1) France - a convention judiciaire d'interet public (CJIP, the French deferred-prosecution equivalent) with the PNF for more than EUR 2bn (about EUR 2.08bn); under French law the CJIP carries no admission of guilt. (2) United Kingdom - a deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO, approved by Dame Victoria Sharp at the Royal Courts of Justice, under which Airbus pays EUR 991m (EUR 585,939,740 disgorgement, a EUR 398,034,571 fine and EUR 6,989,401 in costs) in relation to five counts of failure to prevent bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 (conduct in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Ghana, 2011-2015); the indictment is suspended for the DPA term. (3) United States - a DOJ deferred prosecution agreement under which Airbus entered a DPA (no guilty plea / no conviction) resolving conspiracy to violate the FCPA anti-bribery provisions and conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act/ITAR; the US component was USD 527m plus a EUR 50m (about USD 55m) ITAR civil forfeiture, and the State Department DDTC imposed a USD 10m penalty (USD 5m suspended for remedial compliance). Authorities applied credits across jurisdictions to avoid duplicative penalties.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Airbus Agrees to Pay Over $3.9 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery and ITAR Case (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · A UK Serious Fraud Office, SFO enters into EUR991m Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Airbus as part of a EUR3.6bn global resolution (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026 · B Airbus SE, Airbus reaches agreements with French, UK and US authorities (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Remedy: Monetary payments totalling about EUR 3.6bn / more than USD 3.9bn (France CJIP more than EUR 2bn; UK DPA EUR 991m; US DOJ USD 527m plus EUR 50m ITAR forfeiture; State Department DDTC USD 10m with USD 5m suspended), ongoing compliance obligations, and anti-corruption programme monitoring by the French Agence Francaise Anticorruption during the suspension periods.
Appeal/review: none — Negotiated resolutions. The UK DPA was approved by the court and the prosecution is suspended for its three-year term, subject to Airbus meeting its conditions; the US DOJ DPA and French CJIP likewise suspend prosecution for three years subject to compliance. No conviction was entered in any of the three main forums. A UK Serious Fraud Office, SFO enters into EUR991m Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Airbus as part of a EUR3.6bn global resolution (31 Jan 2020) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
How to read this. Allegation, response and outcome are separate, dated records. "Decided/resolved" appears only where a cited outcome supports it. Materially affected parties can request a correction via Corrections & response.