France charges ex-EADS executive

The EADS group includes Airbus, manufacturer of the A380

Preliminary charges have been filed against a former EADS executive for selling company shares before disclosing delays to the A380 plane.

Jean-Paul Gut will be investigated for insider trading, but will be freed on a bail payment of 400,000 euros ($620,297; �317,147).

When details of delays to the A380 project were announced in June 2006, shares in EADS slumped 26% in a day.

Mr Gut has been detained since Monday. His lawyers deny any wrongdoing.

Anne Meaux, a spokeswoman for Mr Gut, said the charges were "the logical continuation of the procedure".

His lawyers have defended their client's sale of shares as a lawful exercise of stock options.

The Paris prosecutor began inquiries in 2006 and the financial markets authority, AMF, is also investigating.

Mr Gut, a former deputy chief executive, left EADS last year.

The AMF investigation is focused on sales of shares by 17 current and former EADS executives and shareholders.