Shares of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group and unit AirAsia X fell on Monday, after allegations by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office that Airbus paid a bribe of $50m to win plane orders from Asia’s largest budget airline group. AirAsia shares fell as much as 11% to 1.27 ringgit - their lowest since May 2016 - while those of AirAsia X tanked 12% to their all-time low of 11.5 Malaysian sen. Malaysia’s anti-graft agency is investigating the allegations from Britain. AirAsia has said it never made any purchase decisions that were premised on Airbus sponsorship, and that it would fully cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Malaysia’s Securities Commission said on Sunday it would also examine whether AirAsia broke securities laws. The allegations were revealed on Friday as part of a record $4b settlement Airbus agreed with France, Britain and the US. Prosecutors said the company had bribed public officials and hidden payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption. Analysts said the accusation against AirAsia comes at a particularly bad time as airlines grapple with a slowdown in business because of the fast-spreading coronavirus epidemic.<br/>
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Sunday that Kiev was not satisfied with a size of compensation Iran had offered to families of Ukrainians killed in the downing of a plane near Tehran last month and would seek larger payments. “As for the Iranian side, they immediately offered us $80,000 for each family… It is too small. We will press for a larger amount,” Zelenskiy told Ukrainian “1+1” TV. The airliner was struck by a missile on Jan. 8 shortly after it left Tehran en route to Kiev. Iran admitted its forces had shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane in error, after initially denying it had a role in the incident. All 176 people aboard, including 11 Ukrainians, were killed. Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine still was waiting for Iran to hand over the black boxes of the plane.<br/>
Sri Lanka's president ordered a fresh investigation Sunday into a multi-billion dollar aircraft purchase involving the island's loss-making national carrier, days after Airbus settled corruption probes in Europe and the US. A French court on Friday approved a deal allowing Airbus to pay US$4b in fines to Britain, France and the US to settle corruption cases sparked by suspicious equipment sales. One of the allegations cited in a judgement and released by a London court Friday concerned the purchase of aircraft by SriLankan Airlines. Investigators had accused Airbus of failing to prevent persons associated with the company from bribing directors or employees of the airline to "obtain or retain business or advantage". Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office said the president had ordered a comprehensive investigation into the reports. Sri Lanka's previous government also called for a criminal investigation into the 2013 purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft, but it petered out without conclusion.<br/>