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Germany watchdog investigating Volkswagen shares in run-up to CEO change: report

Reuters
The Volkswagen logo is seen on a vehicle at the New York Auto Show in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 29, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The German financial markets watchdog is investigating trading in Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> shares before the announcement of a new chief executive, a German magazine reported on Tuesday.

"We will take a routine look at the trading of Volkswagen shares for possible indications of insider trading and/or market manipulation," a spokeswoman for the BaFin watchdog told WirtschaftsWoche magazine.

The German carmaker's shares rose in the days before an official announcement by Volkswagen on April 10 that it was considering a change at the helm. The share price gains continued through April 12, when the company said it had chosen Herbert Diess as its new chief executive.

BaFin didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

"We have no request from BaFin on hand, so we are not able to comment," a spokesman for Volkswagen said.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Hans Seidenstuecker; Writing Tom Sims; Editing by Adrian Croft)