Insider trading concerns were raised in Europe last month after twenty-one current and former European Aeronautic Defense & Space (EADS) Executives abruptly sold their stock in the company.

The sell-offs occurred two years ago, between Nov. 9 and Nov. 29, 2005. This was the same month that Manfred Bischoff of Daimler and Arnaud Lagardère of Lagadère had a meeting with former French finance minister Thierry Breton, informing him of their intent to reduce their holdings of EADS by 7.5 percent each.

However, the two companies, Daimler and Lagadère, did not publicly announce their plan to sell a portion of their shares until April 4, 2006.

The result is one of the biggest cases of insider trading throughout Europe in recent years.

The executives who sold stock in the company include Noël Forgeard and Thomas Enders, co-chief executives of EADS at the time; Ralph Crosby, CEO of EADS North America; and Jean-Paul Gut, COO of EADS. They earned approximately €603,000, €712,000 and €1.35 million respectively from their sales.

Read more about the case in the International Herald Tribune.