Fiat, Italy’s car and truck maker, on Monday admitted to “regrettable incidents” in its trade with the former Iraqi regime under the United Nations’ oil-for-food programme and agreed to pay $10.6m to settle accusations of kickbacks investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC said in a statement that Fiat and CNH Global, a subsidiary, paid more than $4.3m to Iraqi officials in the Saddam Hussein regime from 2000 to 2003 for the sale of “humanitarian goods”, including vehicles, equipment and parts. The kickbacks were disguised as “after sales service fees”.