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MACON - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for appropriate penalties if anyone is found guilty in an insider trading probe surrounding the shares of aerospace group Eads, as parliament widens its own inquiry.
The emergence last week of an interim report to prosecutors by stock market regulator AMF detailing "concurrent and massive" trading of Eads, before the announcement of plane delays hit its share price, has been dominating the French political agenda.
Eads, its main industrial shareholders and several top executives have all denied wrongdoing.
"Even if people did commit fraud on Eads [shares], if there are sanctions, let them be punished in proportion to what they did," Sarkozy told reporters on a visit to eastern France.
"Let's see what the judicial system says. If suspicions are confirmed, then it is serious and there must be consequences. Now, let's let the justice system do its work."
Sarkozy also referred indirectly to questions over whether the previous French government knew about the purchase of Eads shares by state bank Caisse des Depots at a time when industrial shareholders were reducing stakes. CDC incurred heavy losses.
"I would like to know ... what was the responsibility of the state in this affair," Sarkozy said.
The finance minister at the time, Thierry Breton, said he had no advance knowledge of CDC's purchase. The French lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, said its finance commission would take evidence from officials from the CDC, the French treasury and Sogeade, a company which holds jointly the interests in Eads of the French state and industrial group Lagardere.
On Thursday, the finance commission of the upper house, or Senate, is also due to question CDC officials.
Meanwhile, the French Finance Ministry has promised to publish the results of an internal investigation of the affair after a report is given to Economy Minister Christine Lagarde on Friday. The AMF is not due to finish its inquiry into Eads sharedealings until next year.
- Reuters
