Dutch Claim Foundation SILC Not Admitted as Interest Group for Collective Action for Airbus Shareholders

French, English, and American judicial authorities conducted years of investigations into global corruption and bribery by Airbus. In 2020, Airbus reached a settlement with the authorities. Airbus was fined 3.6 billion euros.

SILC accuses Airbus of concealing that the company was under investigation for corruption and bribery practices from 2014 to 2020. According to SILC, investors bought their shares at too high a price during that period. SILC seeks admission by the court as an interest group to file a collective damage claim for these investors.

In mass damage cases, it is customary for judges first to assess whether they are competent to handle the case and whether the interest group seeking to initiate the collective action meets the strict requirements set by the WAMCA (Act on Settlement of Mass Damage in Collective Actions). In this case, the court rules that SILC does not meet these requirements. This is because SILC is connected to commercial organizations in such a way that the foundation does not comply with the requirements of the Claim Code, a governance code prescribing how interest groups initiating collective actions must organize themselves. 

The court concludes that this insufficiently guarantees that SILC can prioritize the interests of investors in the litigation strategy and settlement negotiations, as required by law. Therefore, the court, like the lower court, declared the foundation inadmissible. This means SILC cannot continue the collective damage claim.