BNP execs probed for suspected insider trading: source

PARIS (Reuters) - French prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into suspected insider trading by officials at French bank BNP Paribas , a source with knowledge of the inquiry said on Tuesday. A spokesman for BNP Paribas declined to comment on the matter. Under French law, a preliminary probe does not necessarily lead to charges or imply wrongdoing. Earlier, French weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine reported that French prosecutors had opened a preliminary probe targeting officials at the bank in early November. The newspaper said three senior executives had sold nearly 300,000 shares last year while the bank was under investigation in the United States for sanctions violations. BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in July to two criminal charges and agreed to pay almost $9 billion to resolve accusations it violated U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. (Reporting by Chine Labbe, additional reporting by Matthieu Protard; writing by Leigh Thomas; editing by Mark John, Alix Freedman and Laurence Frost)