“An ascent based on corruption”. And the sentence of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of the main newspapers in Germany, on the Airbus affair, the Franco-German aviation giant that has decided to pay sanctions of 3.6 billion euros in order to close the open cases of France, United United and United States. THE ACCUSATIONS
The story is now well known, which began in 2016 when the British Serious Fraud Office (Sfo) decided to launch an investigation into bribery and corruption related to alleged irregularities in relations with intermediaries and third parties, for the payment of which even black funds were used ad hoc. A year later, with the same accusations, the London initiative was followed by the French Parquet National Financier (Pnf), while in 2018 the United States Department of Justice was joined on the hypothesis of violation of the regulations for the international arms trade. (Itar). By accusing the maxi fine, Airbus now closes all three proceedings. To do so, it will pay € 2.08 billion to France, € 984 million to the United Kingdom and € 525 million to the United States. And the biggest penalty of this kind. In 2017, with similar allegations, Rolls Royce pays 671 million pounds. Back then it was the highest ever imposed.THE SYSTEM
Now, the 3.6 billion will be used to avoid prosecution on what the daily Faz calls a “determined, shameless and sometimes sophisticated” system of bribes. According to the reconstructions, to which Airbus collaborated by providing 30 million documents, at the heart of the system was the Strategy and Marketing Organization (SMO), a division dedicated to securing contracts in emerging markets. Of its activities, described in the documents “on the fringes” of legality, several executives of the group would have been aware of. Others “did not want to know what exactly SMO did; the important thing was to get the orders “. The division would have had the management of black funds for about 300 million euros, used to subsidize “business partners”, intermediaries useful for facilitating the sale of aircraft around the world.SALES
The “black registers” revealed now by the investigations show some examples of setting in motion in the system, risking to generate a ripple effect and impact on future sales. And the case of Ghana, which between 2011 and 2015 ordered three examples of the C-295 military aircraft. According to what has been reconstructed by the British authorities, to obtain the order Airbus entrusts (as a “business partner”, the brother of a high representative of the country, paying him large sums. Now, the Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addoannounced an investigation into which officials were involved. In any case, according to documents taken up by the press around the world, Airbus’ crimes would have mainly concerned the Asia-Pacific region. Under the lens of the magistrates, several sales have ended in Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, China and Colombia. THE CHINESE CASE
Among the most emblematic cases, the financing in 2013 of a one-week pleasure trip for a group of representatives of the Beijing government and Chinese airlines in a luxury hotel in Maui, Hawaii. The gift would have been accompanied by the payment of 10.3 million euros to “business partners” through a contract through a Lebanese company. A “useful” commitment, notes Faz, given that the following year Airbus sold 140 aircraft to China between A320 and A330. The system analyzed dates back to at least 2008, “at a time – writes the Financial Times – when the European aircraft manufacturer was rapidly gaining on rival Boeing in the global passenger jet market”. In the light of the open investigations, at the end of 2017, it was the then German CEO Tom Enders, announcing “turbulent times”, asking employees to prepare. The CEO had warned of the “possible serious consequences, including substantial penalties”. THE GROUP’S RESPONSE
Since last April, Enders has left the position of French Guillaume Faury. He had announced it months earlier, when he had explained that he would not ask for a reconfirmation after 14 years at the head of the group, for many observers precisely in light of the legal events. Now, Faury has described the plea deal as “a milestone”, as it allows the group “to move forward and grow further in a sustainable and responsible way”. At the same time, the company emphasizes the collaboration with the judicial authorities, as well as the involvement of a “minority” of the contracts acquired in the facts in question. Too unlikely, especially when compared to what Judge Victoria Sharp of the British High Court called “endemic corruption in two key sectors within Airbus”.

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