A PANASONIC Corp unit that makes inflight entertainment and communications systems for airlines is under a bribery investigation by US regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The legal department of Panasonic Avionics, based in Lake Forest, California, told executives and employees to preserve documents that may be relevant to the government investigation, the newspaper said yesterday, citing company documents.

Chieko Gyobu, a spokeswoman for the Osaka, Japan-based parent company, declined to comment when reached by phone yesterday.

Employees were asked to preserve documents related to gifts or benefits offered to airline employees or government officials, as well as any that reported rumors, concerns or complaints of alleged bribery or corruption, the report said, citing a January 20 company notice.

Panasonic Avionics received a subpoena from government investigators last month, the Journal said, citing a March 25 company notice.

Both notices reference the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars US companies and those listed on US stock exchanges from paying bribes to foreign government officials, the report said. Spokespeople for the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, which enforce the act, declined to comment.

The January notice said Panasonic intends to cooperate with the investigation and that the existence of any inquiry doesn't mean the company broke the law, the newspaper said.

Panasonic fell 1.1 percent to 647 yen as of 9:52am in Tokyo trading, compared with a 0.8 percent drop in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.

The company's avionics unit is the "world leader" in inflight entertainment and communications, with the most systems installed and serving the most airlines, according to its website. Panasonic began expanding into avionics in 1979 and was among the first to market video equipment to airlines, it says.

Panasonic is struggling to recover from a record loss in the year ended March 2012. The company said last week it plans to revive profit at its TV-making unit and boost sales of housing products to meet a target for operating income of 350 billion yen (US$3.7 billion) in three years.