Airbus shareholders sue the company over securities fraud. Credit: fredsharples via Flickr.

Shareholders of European aerospace and defence company Airbus have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company over securities fraud.

The class action was filed by shareholder Andrew Kornecki in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. It was filed on behalf of all persons and entities except the defendants, who purchased Airbus securities in the US.

Airbus chief executive officer Guillaume Faury and predecessor, Tom Enders, as well as chief financial officer Dominik Asam and predecessor, Harald Wilhelm, are included among the defendants.

The shareholders alleged that defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding its business, operational, and compliance policies between 24 February 2016 and 30 July.

The class action seeks to recover damages caused by defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws.

In 2016, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption in Airbus Group’s civil aviation business.

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The SFO reached a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the company on 31 January this year.

Airbus agreed to pay a €991m fine, comprising a disgorgement of profits and costs in the UK, and €3.6bn in total as part of the global bribery resolution involving French and the US authorities.

The DPA is in force until 31 January 2023.

Last month, the company revealed plans to eliminate nearly 15,000 jobs before mid-next year as part of the company’s strategy to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity.