A Paris magistrate orders Insider Trading Trial for Soros

France orders U.S. financier George Soros and three other men to stand trial for insider trading linked to a failed takeover bid for the French bank Societe Generale. The investigation concluded that the four earned several tens of millions of francs in 1988 speculating on Societe Generale stocks before the takeover bid became public knowledge. The trial is to take place next year. Seven other people were also probed but no charges were brought against them. Apart from Hungarian-born fund manager Soros, the magistrate brought charges against former Finance Ministry senior official Jean-Charles Naouri, banker Jean-Pierre Peyraud and Lebanese businessman Samir Traboulsi. The judicial inquiry was launched in May 1990 at the request of the COB bourse watchdog committee. Over the years the case was handed from one investigating magistrate to another because of the time it took to obtain information from other countries involved.