European aerospace group EADS and the head of its aircraft maker Airbus have filed a complaint in France for violation of secrecy linked to an insider trading probe, a press report said on October 31, 2007.

Airbus chief Thomas Enders filed a complaint against unknown persons with the Paris prosecutor following the publication of press articles related to the case, the Financial Times Deutschland said on its Internet site, quoting an EADS spokesman.

The action followed a similar one filed "a few days earlier" by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company itself, the newspaper said.

"Mr. Enders has the full support of EADS," it quoted the company spokesman as saying.

French and German judicial authorities are investigating possible insider trading of EADS shares in late 2005 and early 2006 before it emerged that Airbus would have to delay deliveries of its flagship A380 superjumbo jet.

News of the delays on June 13, 2006, caused EADS shares to plunge by more than 26 percent the following day.

In early October, the French newspaper Le Figaro revealed the contents of a report by the French stock market watchdog AMF, which is investigating the sales of EADS shares prior to June 13, 2006.

A "preliminary note" sent to the Paris prosecutor's office indicates suspicion that around 20 EADS directors along with two core shareholders, the French media and defence group Lagardere and German automaker Daimler, might be involved.

The note mentions "massive insider trading" by EADS directors, but the final AMF report is not expected until early next year.

Lagardere has already said it would file a complaint following the newspaper publication to obtain compensation because it charged that terms of the report had led to "interpretations (in the media) which led to unfounded accusations."

Enders, who was co-president of EADS in June 2006, said a few days after the report in Le Figaro that he felt he had been "treated like a criminal" and stigmatised by "unfounded criticism."

In a letter to Airbus employees, Enders claimed his innocence.

According to the Financial Times Deutschland, which quotes sources close to EADS's aerospace unit, "other managers" are considering following Enders's lead.

Directors against whom allegations have been made deny any involvement in insider trading.