Word: figaro
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...Tuesday, the daily Le Figaro published details of a preliminary report by France's Financial Markets Authority (AMF) investigating the sale of stock options by EADS executives between November 2005 and March 2006. The paper said that initial findings in the on-going inquiry - which both the AMF and French legal officials declined to comment on - had turned its attention to 21 current and former EADS executives, and as many as 1,200 other shareholders who may have used inside knowledge of troubles with the A380 program to dump millions worth of stock before that bad news was revealed...
...sufficient evidence of serious legal infraction, which appears to have been its motivation in this instance," Maréchal explains. "Given the large number of people reportedly involved, it would be difficult to believe there would be no convictions if laws were indeed broken. Details in the Figaro report suggest the EADS affair could be the largest case of insider trading France has ever seen...
...Among the most surprising executives Le Figaro cites as targeted by the AMF inquiry is Arnaud Lagardère, a former EADS co-chairman whose defense and press group still owns 7.5% of EADS. Lagardère - who has not only denied any wrongdoing, but has threatened litigation to address damage done to his reputation by the reports - is also a personal friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who once famously called the businessman "my brother." In addition to Lagardère, three other former co-chairmen and co-chief executives have been named in media reports as inquiry suspects...
...also purportedly urged the French government to lower its 15% stake in the group before flying got rough for EADS, which would allow the state to "profit from the current value of shares, which incorporates only the good news of the last financial year." Breton responded to the Le Figaro report stressing the state's "conduct was irreproachable" at the time, and pointed out France sold no EADS stocks then or since...
...coming weeks, the Pope is expected to release a document that would allow the more widespread practice of the traditional Latin Mass, which was all but shelved with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s. Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone recently confirmed to Le Figaro newspaper that this motu proprio, or personal initiative of the Pontiff, will allow any priest to say the mass according to the old Tridentine rite (which is delivered in Latin with the priest facing the altar, his back to the congregation), rather than have to seek approval from the local bishop...