Boeing working with DOJ on revised plea deal in 737 MAX fraud case, CEO says
WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab is in discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice to reach a revised plea agreement in a criminal fraud case stemming from the planemaker's alleged misrepresentations to regulators about a key system on the 737 MAX, company CEO Kelly Ortberg said on Wednesday.
Ortberg said at a Senate hearing Boeing is in discussions with the Justice Department to come up with an alternate agreement after the initial deal was not accepted by a judge.
"I want this resolved as fast as anybody," Ortberg said. "Hopefully, we'll have a new agreement here soon."
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 MAX crashes and to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million. A judge set a June 23 trial date if no final agreement is reached.
Boeing's plea deal struck last year included spending $455 million to improve safety and compliance practices over three years of court-supervised probation as well as supervision by an independent monitor for three years.
Relatives of the victims of the two 737 MAX crashes, which occurred in 2018 and 2019 and killed 346 people, have called the plea agreement a "sweetheart" deal that failed to adequately hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of their loved ones.
An accepted plea deal would brand Boeing a convicted felon for conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration about problematic software affecting the flight control systems in the planes that crashed during the MAX's certification.
In May, the DOJ found Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement that had shielded it from prosecution over the crashes. Prosecutors then decided to criminally charge Boeing and negotiate the current plea deal.
The decision followed the January 2024 in-flight blowout of a door panel on a new Alaska Airlines' (ALK.N), opens new tab 737 MAX 9.
Senator Maria Cantwell asked about a report that Boeing does not want to face oversight of an independent corporate monitor as part of a new plea deal.
"I don't want to prejudge what the outcome of those discussions is going to be. I don't personally have a problem, no," Ortberg said.
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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Russia using horror AI kamikaze drone that ‘chooses its own target' as Ukraine now faces blitz of over ‘500 every night'
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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
TRADING DAY London calling, stocks crawling higher
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Today's Key Market Moves London calling, stocks crawling higher It was a fairly quiet start to the week across global markets on Monday, with strong equity gains in Asia followed by a grind higher on Wall Street which lifted the MSCI World index to a fresh record high. The main areas of focus for investors were China's economic 'data dump' for May, then the high-level U.S.-China trade talks in London. The two are connected - the U.S. is a less important market for China than it used to be, underscored in May's trade figures from Beijing and reflected in the lack of concrete progress from the negotiations in London. China's total exports rose 4.8% in May from a year earlier but this masks a huge split between the U.S. and the rest of the world. Exports to the U.S. plunged 34.4% year-on-year in value terms, the sharpest drop since February 2020 just before the pandemic, while exports to the rest of the world rose 11.4%. Monthly data are volatile, of course, and May's figures were also distorted by tariffs. Still, U.S.-bound shipments worth $28.8 billion last month were just 9% of the total $316 billion. Economist Phil Suttle notes that is less than half the average share in the decade leading up to President Donald Trump's first trade war. The London talks are expected to continue on Tuesday. But as was the case following Trump's telephone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, there is little indication of a significant breakthrough, far less China bending to U.S. demands. "U.S. Treasury Secretaries who live in unbalanced economies might not want to throw barbs such as the 'most unbalanced in modern history' at China without first looking at some data," Suttle wrote on Monday. "The choice to fight an opponent should be conditioned on a clear-headed view of its strengths and weaknesses. The U.S. has done a marvelous job of (once again) deluding itself on this front," Suttle added. 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Wall Street's three main indices and the ICE BofA U.S. Treasury index are all slightly higher for the year to date, despite the post-'Liberation Day' volatility, while the dollar has steadily ground lower, losing around 10% of its value against a basket of major currencies and breaking long-standing correlations along the way. The dollar was perhaps primed for a fall. It's easy to forget, but only a few months ago the 'U.S. exceptionalism' narrative was alive and well, and the dollar scaling heights rarely seen in the past two decades. But that narrative has evaporated, as U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial economic policies and isolationist posture on the global stage have made investors reconsider their exposure to U.S. assets. But why is the dollar feeling the burn more than stocks or bonds? Non-U.S. investors often protect themselves against sharp currency fluctuations via the forward, futures or options markets. The difference now is that the risk premium being built into U.S. assets is pushing them – especially equity holders – to hedge their dollar exposure more than they have in the past. Foreign investors have long hedged their bond exposure, with dollar hedge ratios traditionally around 70% to 100%, according to Morgan Stanley, as currency moves can easily wipe out modest bond returns. But non-U.S. equity investors have been much more loath to pay for protection, with dollar hedge ratios averaging between 10% and 30%. This is partly because the dollar was traditionally seen as a 'natural' hedge against stock market exposure, as it would typically rise in 'risk off' periods when stocks fell. The dollar would also normally appreciate when the U.S. economy and markets were thriving – the so-called 'Dollar Smile' – giving an additional boost to U.S. equity returns in good times. A good barometer of global 'real money' investors' view on the dollar is how willing foreign pension and insurance funds are to hedge their dollar-denominated assets. Recent data on Danish funds' currency hedging is revealing. Danish funds' U.S. asset hedge ratio surged to around 75% from around 65% between February and April. According to Deutsche Bank analysts, that 10 percentage point rise is the largest two-month increase in over a decade. Anecdotal evidence suggests similar shifts are taking place across Scandinavia, the euro zone and Canada, regions where dollar exposure is also high. The $266 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan reported a $6.9 billion foreign currency gain last year, mainly due to the stronger dollar. Unless the fund has increased its hedging ratio this year, it will be sitting on huge foreign currency losses. "Investors had embraced U.S. exceptionalism and were overweight U.S. assets. But now, investors are increasing their hedging," says Sophia Drossos, economist and strategist at the hedge fund Point72. And there is a lot of dollar exposure to hedge. At the end of March foreign investors held $33 trillion of U.S. securities, with $18.4 trillion in equities and $14.6 trillion in debt instruments. The dollar's malaise has upended its traditional relationships with stocks and bonds. Its generally negative correlation with stocks has reversed, as has the usually positive correlation with bonds. The divergence with Treasuries has gained more attention, with the dollar diving as yields have risen. But as Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos notes, the correlation breakdown with stocks is "very unusual". When Wall Street has fallen this year the dollar has fallen too, but at a much faster pace. And when Wall Street has risen the dollar has also bounced, but only slightly. This has led to the strongest positive correlation between the dollar and S&P 500 in years, though that's a bit deceptive, as the dollar is sharply down on the year while stocks are mildly stronger. Of course, what we could be seeing is simply a rebalancing. Saravelos estimates that global fixed income and equity managers' dollar exposure was at near record-high levels in the run-up to the recent trade war. This was a "cyclical" phenomenon over the last couple of years rather than a deep-rooted structural one based on fundamentals, meaning it could be reversed relatively quickly. But, regardless, the dollar's hedging headwind seems likely to persist. "Given the size of foreign holdings of both stocks and bonds, even a modest uptick in hedge ratios could prove a considerable FX flow," Morgan Stanley's FX strategy team wrote last month. "As long as uncertainty and volatility persist, we think that hedge ratios are likely to rise as investors ride out the storm." What could move markets tomorrow? Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent Frederick Forsyth dies aged 86
Author Frederick Forsyth, best known for writing thrillers including The Day of the Jackal, has died aged 86. Throughout his career, the English novelist and journalist sold more than 70 million books in more than 30 languages. Some of them included The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, The Cobra and The Kill List. More than a dozen of his titles have been adapted for screen, including 1971's The Day of the Jackal, which was made into a movie in 1973. Last year Sky released a TV version, which starred Eddie Redmayne as the titular character. It's now been announced the novelist died earlier today after a brief illness. His literary agents Curtis Brown said that the best-selling author was surrounded by his family as he died at home on Monday morning. Born in Ashford, Kent, in 1938, Forsyth completed his National Service in the Royal Air Force as a pilot. He then went on to pursue a career in journalism, joining Reuters in 1961 before moving to the BBC four years later. Working as an assistant diplomatic correspondent, Forsyth began by covering French affairs and the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle and then reporting on the Nigerian Civil War. After quitting his job and working as a freelance reporter, he released his first book, The Biafra Story, in 1969. Although he went on to write a string of hugely successful novels, he once said he only turned to writing fiction due to needing to make money rathe than any desire to become a novelist. Reflecting on writing The Day of the Jackal – his first full-length novel – Forsyth said he wrote it because he was 'skint, stony broke'. That book debuted to glowing reviews and won the 1972 Best Novel Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. More Trending Decades later – in 2015 – he revealed that he'd been an informant for MI6 for over 20 years. Forsyth also narrated several documentaries, including Jesus Christ Airlines, Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle and I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal. His last book – 2018's The Fox – was released in 2018. Forsyth was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1997 New Year Honours list for services to literature. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The Twilight Zone actress Pippa Scott dies aged 90 MORE: Jonathan Joss' murder investigation takes turn as police backtrack on statement MORE: Jonathan Joss' husband says he 'held his face together' in his final moments
