Attorneys for Formula 1 commercial chieftain Bernie Ecclestone have opened talks with German prosecutors about a possible settlement in his bribery trial, Munich’s regional court has revealed.

Ecclestone has been on trial since April over allegations he bribed a former German banker as part of the sale of a significant stake in F1, although since the opening arguments in the case he has been permitted to be absent from the court in order to conduct F1 business while the legal arguments were presented. Under German law, criminal cases can, under specific circumstances, be settled with lesser punishments, including financial settlements.

According to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, Ecclestone’s legal team informed the court that he was willing to pay a fine of 25m euros ($33.4m) to Bayern Landesbank, the regional German bank and former F1 shareholder whose former employee he is accused of having bribed. In a statement, Munich’s regional court confirmed that talks about an early termination of the trial were ongoing.

Ecclestone is accused of having paid former Bayern Landesbank official Gerhard Gribkowsky $44m in 2006 during the sale of the bank’s share in return, according to the indictment, for a guarantee that Ecclestone would be retained as chief executive. The 83-year-old Ecclestone has steadfastly denied that the payment constituted a bribe, claiming he had felt threatened by Gribkowsky and was trying to avert attempted blackmail.