Volkswagen will plead guilty for criminal misconduct linked to rigging U.S. diesel emissions tests, admitting that 40 employees at both its Volkswagen and Audi brands deleted documents related to the testing and nearly 11 million vehicles around the world could have defeat device software installed designed to circumvent testing.  The company has confirmed that it will negotiate a $4.3 billion draft settlement with regulators, as well as pay California $153.8 million.  The hefty fine along with years of repercussions will total well above Volkswagen's $19.2 billion in reserves to cover such a problem.  It will also be subject to monitoring by a third party for the next three years to eliminate further misconduct and shady dealings.  

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Volkswagen is expected to submit its plea deal as early as Wednesday of next week, and it will need to be signed of by a U.S. judge in order to take effect.  Swift execution of the deal was made possible due to the car maker's attempts to get a plan into place before the country's change in presidency.  Having the diesel deal submitted after Obama's departure would have delayed the process by several months.  Volkswagen's 2016 financial results are expected to be released in mid-March, and shares rose this week to their highest level since September of last year following the suspected execution of the plea deal, although they remain lower than they were prior to the conspiracy.  Volkswagen is still subject to lawsuits from nearly 20 U.S. states as well as numerous individual investors, and will be forced into spending many years undoing the damage caused by almost 600,000 polluting vehicles currently on the streets.  Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller submitted a statement vowing to make continual changes and improvements to how the company operates.