Siemens’ supervisory board is expected next Tuesday to launch legal action against 10 of the engineering group’s former executive board members, including ex-chief executives Heinrich von Pierer and Klaus Kleinfeld, over their roles in a €1.3bn ($2bn) bribery scandal.

People close to the company said its supervisory board was due to approve claims for damages resulting from the bribery scandal that could potentially cost Europe’s biggest industrial group several billion euros.