The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed receipt of the $200m it ordered Boeing to pay in 2022 after the company was found to have misled investors in its response to the two fatal crashes involving 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019.
The SEC issued the order in September 2022 alongside a separate, but related, order for former CEO Dennis Muilenburg to pay out $1m for failing to “exercise reasonable care in making statements to the public” following the accidents.
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Money paid by both parties will now be put into a “Fair Fund” overseen by Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, which will pay out to eligible people who can prove they had purchased Boeing stock in the US between November 2018 and October 2019.
Following the SEC’s announcement, claimants will have until 3 October 2024 to prove they are eligible to receive money from the fund, which will include proving their transactions during the period work out to a “recognised loss” and the claim equals or exceeds $10.
While first announced in 2022, Boeing’s payout on the SEC’s order continues the spotlight being put back on the company’s actions during the period after the two fatal crashes, found to have been caused by faulty software hidden from regulators.
In fact, the news comes only weeks after the troubled manufacturer pleaded guilty to fraud charges from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) after it decided Boeing’s recent quality control issues had violated a deferred prosecution agreement made in 2021.
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By GlobalDataAs a result, Boeing will also be paying a $487.2m penalty, organising a meeting between its board of directors and families of the crash victims, and agreeing to increased oversight.
The extra payout to the DoJ adds to the $2.5bn already paid by the company in the aftermath of the incidents in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Boeing’s financial hits may also not yet be over, with reports from May finding the SEC was investigating statements made by the company in the aftermath of a door plug blow out on a 737 MAX 8 plane in January over similar concerns around misleading investors.
