FRANCE faced severe political embarrassment yesterday after carmaker Renault said the three top executives it sacked for industrial espionage in January might not be spies after all.

A Paris judge filed preliminary charges against a trader suspected of losing more than €600m in complex derivative trades at French mutual bank Caisse d’Epargne.

A Paris judge has filed preliminary charges against a trader suspected of losing more than €600m in complex derivative trades at French mutual bank Caisse d’Epargne.