Airbus’s legal problems look to be snowballing after the aerospace company revealed problems with US rules on foreign arms sales.

Reporting third quarter results Airbus said an internal review of its compliance procedures had unearthed “inaccuracies” in filings made to the US State Department involving Part 130 of the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Although the company did not specify which part of the rules it had broken, Section 130 covers payments “relating to the sales of defence articles and services”, which includes fees and commissions.

Allegations that Airbus paid paid bribes to land contracts through paying fees and commissions to middlemen are currently the subject of a massive investigation by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and its French equivalent the Parquet National Financier (PNF).

Read Alan Tovey's full report here