Egypt regulator examines Beltone director's EFG trades - sources

Egypt's financial market regulator is examining share trades made by a board member at Beltone Financial two days before Beltone bid for a stake in investment bank EFG Hermes, two people familiar with the matter said.

Beltone has joined up with billionaire Naguib Sawiris to bid $257 million for a 20 percent stake in EFG Hermes, one of the biggest investment banks in the Middle East.

The offer, submitted to the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) on June 5, suggests a potential revival of dealmaking in Egyptian equities after more than three years of stagnation following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

"One member of Beltone's board of directors bought more than 255,000 EFG Hermes shares in his own name and that of a company belonging to him over two days before the formal offer was presented to the financial regulator," one of the sources said.

"A sister of another board member at Beltone also bought (shares) two days before the offer and the financial regulator is looking into the case," the source added.

The sources said the deals being investigated were made between June 2 and 3 and the two individuals had bought further EFG Hermes shares one day before the June 5 announcement.