The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly opened an investigation into Boeing's handling of problems with its 737 Max line of aircraft.

Multiple sources familiar with the probe told Bloomberg News that the agency is investigating whether senior Boeing executives were forthcoming to shareholders about problems associated with the planes before the line was grounded worldwide earlier this year following two deadly crashes in six months.

A spokesperson for Boeing declined to comment when contacted by The Hill, and the SEC declined to comment on the probe to Bloomberg.

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In a quarterly report filed with the SEC earlier this year, Boeing wrote that the company was fully complying with all government inquiries into the crashes and Boeing's safety standards, according to the news outlet.

“We are fully cooperating with all ongoing governmental and regulatory investigations and inquiries relating to the accidents and the 737 Max program,” the company said in the filing. “We cannot reasonably estimate a range of loss, if any, that may result.”

News of the probe comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced this week that it could be up to a year before Boeing's line of 737 Max aircraft are legally certified to take flight for commercial purposes.

"In the U.S., the 737 Max will return to service only when the FAA’s analysis of the facts and technical data indicate that it is safe to do so,” FAA acting chief Daniel Elwell told members of the House subcommittee on aviation this Wednesday.

"If you said October I wouldn't even say that, only because we haven't finished determining exactly what the training requirements will be," he added later at a press conference, according to the BBC.

"If it takes a year to find everything we need to give us the confidence to lift the [grounding] order so be it," Elwell said.

The planes were grounded worldwide after deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, resulting in a $1 billion loss for Boeing this quarter.