[JURIST] The trial involving allegations of insider trading in shares of Airbus Group [corporate website] began on Friday after an eight-year investigation. Seven current and former managers at Airbus Group and two former industrial shareholders in Airbus’ parent European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. (EADS) [corporate website] are accused of trying to profit from inside knowledge of financial problems with two jet development projects when they sold shares in 2006. All accused deny the charges and argue that the trial should be halted because they have already been cleared by the French stock market regulator. The three-week Paris trial [Reuters report] will take place in front of a panel of judges. If convicted, the defendants will face a fine up to 10 times the amount gained from the share deals and up to two years in prison.

Last December a French court ordered a trial [JURIST report] for German car maker Dailmer AG and French industrial conglomerate Lagardere SCA [corporate websites], shareholders in EADS for insider trading. In 2009 the Financial Markets Authority [official website] ruled [AP report] that 17 current and former executives of Airbus and EADS did not violate insider-trading laws when they sold company shares in 2006. The decision followed a two-and-a-half-year investigation into a series of 2006 board meetings. The investigation [International Business Times backgrounder] found that details about the A380’s troubles at the time were detailed enough for a “reasonable investor” to anticipate a significant drop in the share price, and thus, no violation of insider-trading laws could be found. In the decision EADS was found to have complied with its obligations to tell shareholders about delays in a timely manner, while Daimler and Lagardere were also cleared of any wrongdoing.