On 31 January 2020, Airbus SE (“Airbus”) and the French, U.S. and UK white-collar crime prosecutors announced that Airbus had reached settlements in order to avoid prosecution in relation to bribery and corruption. Airbus was involved in bribery practices via its employees, executives, and “business partners”, “consultants” or “intermediaries”. These individuals formed the link between Airbus and decision makers among Airbus’s potential customers. Airbus paid an amount of EUR 3.6 billion to the three authorities. Together, the settlements represent one of the largest settlements ever reached following charges of bribery and corruption.

For investors, this means that Airbus failed to comply with its legal disclosure obligations regarding its involvement in (i) the bribery practices, (ii) the institutionalisation of bribery in its operations and (iii) the significant risk that Airbus faced as a result. This risk consisted of serious reputational and financial consequences, criminal investigations, and prosecution, including the imposition of fines, profit disgorgement and other claims. Since Airbus concealed those risks for a long time, the price of its shares was inflated. The Airbus share prices were higher than they would have been had the market been properly informed.