MyComplianceOffice Blog

Benjamin Taylor and Darina Windsor, two London investment bankers, were charged by the U.S. government in September with selling information about pending mergers and acquisitions as part of a “large-scale, international insider-trading ring.” In a recent Bloomberg article, prosecutors say the pair generated tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits as a result of their activities.  

Two London investment bankers were charged on Monday in the US for an insider trading scheme. The prosecutors claim that the large-scale scheme generated around $10 million in illegal profit. The spokesman for the Manhattan U.S attorney could not confirm if the couple are under arrest.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued an edition of Market Watch this month that shares the regulator’s concerns and findings about control of access to inside information. In the publication, the FCA highlighted the conviction of Fabiana Abdel-Malek, a former Compliance officer in the London branch of a major investment bank.  

On May 7, 2019, U.S. Representative James Himes (D-Conn) introduced the “Insider Trading Prohibition Act,” which would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, by inserting a new section that defines the elements of criminal insider trading. The bill was passed unanimously in the House Financial Services Committee on May 10. 

Technology makes keeping material non-public information (MNPI) in compliance with securities laws and regulations a lot easier. As a longstanding priority to prevent insiders from wielding unfair market advantage, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have explicit guidelines surrounding the sharing of MNPI among corporate insiders in advance of trading and investment deals.[1]