Cathay Pacific and became a successful businessman. Swire later acquired 52% of Cathay Pacific Airways. , the airline is still 45% owned by Swire Group through its subsidiary Swire Pacific Limited, as the largest shareholder. However, Swire Group also formed a shareholders' agreement with the second largest shareholder Air China (which was controlled by state-owned China National Aviation Holding), which Cathay Pacific and Air China had a cross ownership. In the late 1940s, the Hong Kong government divided the local aviation market between Cathay Pacific and its only local competitor, the Jardine Matheson-owned Hong Kong Airways: Cathay Pacific was allocated routes to
Cathay Pacific agreements. It was fined US$60 million. The airline has subsequently set up an internal Competition Compliance Office, reporting to chief operating officer John Slosar, to ensure that the Group complies with all relevant competition and antitrust laws in the jurisdiction in which it operates. The breaches for which Cathay Pacific Cargo were being investigated in the US were not illegal under Hong Kong competition law. In September 2008, three of Cathay Pacific's top ten global accounts, Lehmann Brothers, AIG and Merrill Lynch, hit financial trouble. In March 2009, the airline reported a record full-year loss of HK$8.56 billion for 2008,