Ex-trader on FSA insider deal charges
A former hedge fund trader yesterday become the latest victim of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) clampdown on insider trading.
Anjam Ahmad, has been charged with conspiracy to commit insider dealing relating to allegations of trading in 22 different shares between June and August 2009. It is alleged he made trades while in possession of price-sensitive information.
He was arrested along with two other men in January. The FSA say the investigation is ongoing.
Ahmad worked for hedge fund AKO Capital until last September. The hedge fund said it was “shocked” after being notified by the regulator that Ahmad was being investigated.
“The charges relate to Mr. Ahmad’s activities in a personal capacity,” the hedge fund said in a statement posted on its website. “AKO Capital has not been a subject of the investigation and there has never been any suggestion of any involvement by AKO Capital or any other AKO Capital personnel.”
Ahmad, who has been bailed, will appear before a UK court on 7 May.
The regulator has been involved in a string of high profile cases this year, including the culmination of a three-year operation in which seven men were arrested last month.
Malcolm “Streaky” Calvert, a former partner at prestigious UK broker Cazenove, was jailed for 21 months in March.
The FSA is also prosecuting four other insider dealing criminal cases, including one against two lawyers and a former finance director and one against a husband-and-wife team.
FAST FACTS | FSA
● The FSA is fighting for its life – the Tories have vowed to shut it if they win the election.
● It is involved in four active criminal insider trading cases. In March it secured a 21-month conviction against Malcolm Calvert.