In Brief : Police Probe of Stock Scandal Urged
Finance Minister Pierre Beregovoy called today for a police investigation into an insider-trading scandal surrounding the takeover of New York-based Triangle Industries Inc. by Pechiney, a French state-owned firm.
Signaling a change of tactics by the Socialist government, he said a legal inquiry was necessary whatever the outcome of an investigation by the COB, France’s stock exchange watchdog.
Beregovoy was answering questions from a parliamentary committee about the “Pechiney affair” in which government insiders are accused of exploiting confidential information to make large profits on the New York Stock Exchange.
“All the truth must be known. This affair, which is causing problems, will not be covered up,” he told a public session.
The inquiry was launched after a tip-off by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over active trading in the shares of Triangle just before news of its purchase by Pechiney, an aluminum company.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
