TTF is proud to be an Associate Member of BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users.

Better Finance has joined forces with Stichting Investor Loss Compensation (SILC), assisting Airbus shareholders recover losses resulting from Airbus’ involvement in bribery practices and other wrongful conducts.

Airbus’ appalling conduct is a classic example of “Bandit Capitalism” – where companies and the people leading them act exclusively in their own short-term interests, without any regard to people or planet. 

TTF is actively campaigning against Bandit Capitalism – we want to see serious corporate governance reforms that will help to stop egregious malpractice and rid society of bad actors – be they rogue organisations or nasty individuals with more power than principles;and more influence than integrity. 

The Airbus scandal is remarkably interesting:

• Largest ever penalty on global bribery practices 

On 31 January 2020, Airbus – the global supplier of aircrafts, and Europe’s largest aerospace multinational – announced that it had reached a settlement with French, US and UK authorities. Airbus paid combined penalties of €3.6 billion to avoid prosecution over landing contracts via bribery to airline executives and government officials in 20 countries between 2004 and 2016. This represents the largest foreign bribery fine to date in Europe.

• Damage to Airbus shareholders

The fines severely affected the company’s earnings and tarnished Airbus’ reputation. When this information became publicly known, the inflated price of Airbus shares fell sharply, causing large losses for investors. Airbus had failed to immediately inform investors of its unlawful conduct and to comply with legal disclosure obligations regarding its involvement in bribery practices and the significant reputational and financial risk it faced as a result.

• Shareholder compensation

In May 2022, Airbus settled a class action lawsuit and compensated only shareholders who bought Airbus American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and foreign ordinary shares in the U.S. Shareholders who bought Airbus shares through European stock exchanges were left out.

• Compensation for European shareholders

BETTER FINANCE has announced that it has joined forces with SILC, an independent foundation that assists shareholders in recovering investment losses and which currently represents institutional investors with more than EUR 300 million in losses against Airbus. On behalf of all who bought Airbus shares through European stock exchanges, SILC filed a collective action before the Court in The Netherlands against Airbus SE, and its responsible executives and auditors.

Attend this event if you have any interest in:

• The Airbus case
• “Bandit Capitalism”
• The use of Class Actions to get justice and compensation