SFO informed Airbus in February 2023 that it would discontinue the investigations/prosecution. PNF provided a similar confirmation to Airbus in March 2023. The DoJ's confirmation has not been received yet. This is anticipated to take several months more. Airbus has no indication that the DoJ will take a different approach than the SFO and PNF.
Ongoing monitoring processes
We asked several questions aimed at obtaining a clearer view on the ongoing monitoring and auditing which has taken place over the past three years in the context of the settlements. This auditing and monitoring process was conducted by the Agence Française Anticorruption, acting for all three governments.
Although Airbus was not able to respond how many sessions with the AFA had occurred and how many audits were performed by AFA, it was made clear that AFA's process concerned all parts of Airbus business and that the process was rigorous. It was also confirmed that Airbus' current auditor has remained closely involved all the way.
We have asked if and to which extent further investigations may be expected. No conclusive answer was provided. Airbus only stated that it would make further announcements if such investigations would occur.
Minutes
As an extra, we have urged Airbus to make its AGM's minutes available on its website. For some reason, Airbus only publishes extracts of its minutes which only contain a list of resolutions taken. We explained that this seems at odds with generally accepted corporate governance criteria and that reasonableness and fairness require publication of full minutes, especially for companies with such a broad shareholders' base as Airbus. Airbus will discuss internally.