BERLIN, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Frankfurt Public Prosecution Office will continue with its investigations into Deutsche Boerse's top executive Carsten Kengeter for suspected insider trading, a spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
An early conclusion of investigations was "completely off the table", the spokesperson said. "The investigations will now be continued," she added.
In a surprising turn of events on Monday night, the Frankfurt Administrative Court had struck down a settlement offer made earlier to Deutsche Boerse and Kengeter to refrain from legal action in exchange for a financial payment.
Under the proposed agreement, the Frankfurt-based stock exchange operator and its director had already accepted to pay two separate fines of 10.5 million euros (12.4 million U.S. dollars) and 500,000 euros respectively.
The Frankfurt administrative court's subsequent move to reject a settlement offer already made by state prosecutors was highly unusual and was justified with the severity of the accusations and the elevated position held by Kengeter.
Kengeter is under investigation for making suspicious purchases of Deutsche Boerse stocks in December 2015, shortly before the firm announced its planned, but ultimately failed, merger with the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The court argued that continuation of investigations now "appeared opportune in light of the significance" of the case, a press statement by Deutsche Boerse read. This circumstance did not preclude a later conclusion of investigations, but could also entail the eventual filing of formal charges.
Kengeter has consistently rejected all accusations of unlawful behavior. The Deutsche Boerse chief's employment contract as director of the stock exchange will expire on March 31, 2018 and has so far not been renewed. (1 euro=1.18 U.S. dollars)
