FSA to indict printing ring
CHARGES against more than eight individuals connected to an insider trading ring are set to be handed down by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) this week.
It is understood that the financial regulator is preparing to criminally charge a group of former JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS employees, who were arrested in July 2008.
The FSA linked the employees, who worked in the printing room at both banks, to an insider trading circle that was thought to be leaking deal prospectus documents to spread betters and accountants.
The FSA declined to comment on the charges, which are understood to come through before Wednesday.
JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS both declined to comment and are not currently under investigation.
The news comes just a week after the FSA arrested seven City members also linked to any insider trading ring.
Martyn Dodgson of Deutsche Bank, Moore Capital’s Julian Rifat and Clive Roberts, who is head of European sales trading at Exane, a subsidiary to BNP Paribas, were among some of the individuals apprehended by the FSA and the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) last week.
Investigators are said to have beenlooking at share dealing ahead of the joint Carlsberg and Heineken bid for Scottish & Newcastle in January 2008.
A statement from Rifat’s lawyer, Stephen Pollard at Kingsley and Napely, said: “Mr Rifat denies the allegations that have been made against him. He has not been charged with any offence. He is deeply distressed by the accusation.”
MARCH 2010
DEUTSCHE BANK, EXANE BNP PARIBAS, MOORE CAPITAL
On 23 March, the FSA arrested six figures allegedly linked to an insider trading ring operating in the City.
The next day, the financial regulator arrested another man, Iraj Parvizi, who is also thought to be connected to the ring.
It later emerged that the individuals currently held roles at Deutsche Bank, Exane BNP Paribas and hedge fund Moore Capital.
Together with SOCA, the FSA raided 16 homes across London, Oxfordshire and the South Eastern part of the country in the FSA’s largest insider trading crackdown to date.
The FSA could take more than six months before they hand down any charges connected to the arrests.
JULY 2008
JP MORGAN CAZENOVE, UBS
On 29 July 2008, the FSA along with the City of London police arrested eight people linked to an insider trading circle.
The individuals, former employees of JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS were arrested on grounds that they used leaked deal prospectuses to inform spread-betters and accountants of upcoming share price movements.
The probe by the FSA was dubbed Saturn and is thought to have been operating in the north-west part of the City.
The FSA has been investigating the case for the past two years. It was originally investigated by 40 officers. The identities of those arrested have been kept confidential.