France, Germany halt Airbus export credit amid UK corruption probe

(Reuters, Paris/Berlin, 8 April 2016) - France and Germany have joined Britain in suspending export credit facilities for Airbus jet deliveries, expanding the fallout from a potential corruption probe in Britain, several people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The move follows Britain's decision last week to suspend financing and alert the Serious Fraud Office after Airbus Group said it had found anomalies over the declaration of overseas agents and that it had itself notified the UK authorities. Unusually, it leaves the world's two largest planemakers, Airbus and Boeing, both facing paralysis over government export financing as Congressional delays leave U.S. Export Import bank unable to support Airbus's U.S. rival. To make things more complex, Airbus Group SE may open itself up to financing from an unlikely source when the first jet is delivered Monday from its new factory in Alabama: the U.S. Export-Import Bank.