Jeremy Warner's Outlook: FSA bags an insider dealing scalp
So is this the big one, the insider dealing scalp the Financial Services Authority has long promised as evidence of its crackdown on market abuse?
John Shevlin, a Body Shop IT technician, claimed when he was collared that he had shorted Body Shop simply because he thought the stock looked expensive. In fact, he had hacked into the company's computer system where he discovered that a profits warning was about to be issued.
He had only dealt in shares twice before, and on both occasions it was just before price-sensitive announcements by his employer. Not quite Ivan Boesky, but then the FSA has got to start somewhere, and by fining Mr Shevlin £85,000, I guess it counts as a triumph of some sort.
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