Brazil's Embraer 'close' to deal to end US graft case

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer's stock rose Thursday after the company said it was "close" to a deal with US authorities to settle corruption allegations that have dogged it since 2010.

Embraer, the world's third-largest commercial plane-maker after Boeing and Airbus, is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations it violated anti-corruption regulations in sales outside Brazil.

The company "is looking to finalize definitive agreements with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States to resolve the allegations," it said in a statement released Wednesday.

It is also in talks with Brazilian authorities to settle a local investigation, it said.

Embraer's stock rose more than three percent on the New York stock exchange and 1.5 percent in Sao Paulo Thursday morning.

The international corruption probe was opened after officials in the Dominican Republic allegedly accepted a $3.5 million bribe to buy eight of Embraer's Super Tucano military planes.

Former Dominican defense minister Rafael Pena Antonio and three other people were arrested in August in the case.

Embraer said it would give details on the settlement deals once they were complete.

The company had set aside $200 million in the second quarter to settle the allegations.

That helped push it into the red as it lost nearly $100 million for the quarter amid falling demand for executive jets.