AP Business Writer

CAIRO (AP) - Egypt-based investment bank EFG Hermes says that the prosecutor general has banned its chairman from travel.

EFG, the Arab world's largest publicly traded investment bank, said Monday in a statement on the Egyptian Exchange's website that it learned of the decision affecting Yasser el-Mallawany on Sunday evening. The step often accompanies a possible criminal investigation.

It did not say why he was banned from travel. Officials at the bank said they had not been told of the reasons behind the travel ban, which was discovered when el-Mallawany was stopped at Cairo's international airport while trying to head to the United Arab Emirates.

EFG's shares were down over 5 percent, at 10.94 pounds in early trading on the Egyptian Exchange.

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