FSA swoops for insider trading
ENFORCEMENT officers from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) raided another London address yesterday in its crackdown on insider trading, taking a 39-year-old man into custody for questioning.
The swoop is the latest in a string of arrests by the regulator over insider dealing, including the high-profile prosecution of former Cazenove partner Malcolm Calvert earlier this year. Calvert, nicknamed “Streaky” in the City, is now facing a 21-month stretch in jail and has been ordered to pay a £524,000 fine to cover costs and the money he made from insider dealing.
In March, the City was rocked by an FSA insider trading investigation that forced seven senior financial services figures into the limelight, including Julian Rifat, a trader at Moore Capital, and Martyn Dodgson, a managing director at Deutsche Bank. The individuals involved were arrested and questioned by the FSA, though the investigation continues and no charges have yet been brought.
And this week, ex-hedge fund trader Anjam Ahmad pleaded guilty to insider dealing after the FSA offered leniency in return for cooperation.
The latest arrest came as the FSA said separately it had contacted over 38,000 people across the UK to warn them they could be targeted by the biggest organised boiler room fraud operation the country has ever seen.
The regulator recovered a “master list” used by the fraudsters, containing the names and addresses of 38,242 people, the majority living in London and the South East.
“This is the biggest list we’ve ever recovered and by acting quickly and contacting every single person on it we’re hoping we can stop people losing money,” said Jonathan Phelan, the FSA’s head of unauthorised business.
He added that the FSA has been working alongside its counterparts in the US, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service to foil the fraudsters.