French financial watchdog AMF yesterday handed its inquiry findings on EADS down

to the public prosecutor’s department. It also filed notices of grievance against shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, as well as against 17 former and current executives of EADS and Airbus for alleged insider trading and insufficient financial communication. A few hours before, the French Mediapart website had leaked the introductory section of the 94- page report, as well as the names of the involved executives. This is the second time that confidential AMF documents have been leaked to the press. In a statement, EADS said it could not comment on the document as it had not yet received it. The group added it was “literally shocked to see how legal procedures and defence rights are simply ignored” and said it maintained its request to the AMF that individuals “preserve their presumption of innocence”. According to Mediapart, the regulator alleges that the 17 executives possessed “privy information” before selling off € 20M worth of shares in March and April 2006. The AMF identified three areas of information shared by the management but unknown by the public: the financial outlook of EADS; the A380’s delivery delays; higher-than-expected development costs for the initial A350 programme. Finally, EADS itself is accused of failing to disclose relevant information to the market. The next step will be for those cited to present defences before the case moves to the disciplinary phase. All those involved have already denied any wrongdoing. Cited by the German press, Stefan Zoller, head of EADS’s defence and security division, said yesterday: “What I did was totally correct and legal”. AFP (08/04), Reuters (08/04), AFX (08/04), Bloomberg (08/04), La Tribune, Les Echos, Le Figaro Economie, Liberation, Aujourd’hui en France, Spiegel Online (08/04), Handelsblatt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, Financial Times Deutschland, Borsen-Zeitung, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Financial Times, The Guardian, International Herald Tribune, The Seattle Times (08/04), Negocio, Expansion, ABC, Cinco Dias