German stock market watchdog BAWe is investigating whether any shareholders of Infineon knew about a heavy third-quarter loss at the company before the results were officially published, a spokeswoman for BAWe said today.
At the current stage, the investigation was not directed "against either the group or any persons in particular," the spokeswoman said.
Infineon announced on June 20th it expected to post a pretax loss of €600 million in the third quarter. The announcement sparked a heavy sell-off of Infineon shares, pushing the price below €35 for the first time.
BAWe wanted to make sure there were no irregularities after a number of "strange" movements were noted, the spokeswoman said.
A Infineon spokeswoman rejected the allegations. "Our earnings were in line with analysts' expectations," she told Der Spiegel.
Infineon had no indication that employees had taken advantage of any insider knowledge, she said.
AFP