Former EADS chief under investigation in share case

PARIS (Reuters) - Former EADS (EAD.PA) Co-Chief Executive Noel Forgeard has been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of insider trading while at Europe's largest aerospace group, his lawyer said early on Friday.

The 61-year-old former aerospace boss was freed on bail in the early hours of Friday on condition that he pay a sum which has yet to be specified, his lawyer Jean-Alain Michel said.

Forgeard had been held in police custody for around 36 hours before appearing in front of judges late on Thursday.

Two judges are investigating internal selling of EADS shares in 2006, weeks before the Franco-German-Spanish company's Airbus unit unveiled a second tranche of delays to its A380 superjumbo.

The announcement of worsening delays in building the world's largest airliner wiped a quarter off the value of EADS shares in June 2006 and triggered Forgeard's resignation.

Forgeard and other current and former executives have denied knowing about the A380 delays when exercising their right to trade stock in March 2006. EADS has also denied wrongdoing.

Being placed under formal investigation in France is a step short of charges and does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial.

Last month French markets regulator AMF wrapped up the exploratory phase of its own 18-month trading investigation and said it had passed a file on the activities of 17 current and former executives to prosecutors and its own sanctions service.

(Reporting by Thierry Leveque, Writing by Tim Hepher, editing by Phil Berlowitz)