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Mark Taylor, who had worked at Towry Limited for 2.5 years, bought shares in another firm off the back of inside information accidentally provided to him in his role at Towry.
In February 2015 Towry made an offer to acquire Ashcourt Rowan, a wealth management company, for £2.70 per share.
Before any public announcement had been made, an internal email was sent to all Towry staff stating that the firm had increased its offer for Ashcourt Rowan to £3.49 a share. Following an attempt to recall the message, a further email was sent to all staff warning them not to act on the information as it was potentially inside information.
Having read both emails, Taylor purchased 5,582 shares in Ashcourt Rowan for a total of £15,011.82, and then sold them on announcement making a profit of £3,498.
The following day Mr Taylor contacted his broker to ask whether it was possible to reverse the trade as he feared that he may have been guilty of insider dealing. The broker declined and reported the trade to the FCA as suspicious.
Taylor was dismissed from Towry for gross misconduct and agreed to settle at an early stage of the FCA’s investigation, avoiding a penalty of £78,819.
Mark Steward, Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA said:
"There can be no let-up in tackling insider dealing and this case shows the consequences will be grave and serious ones for perpetrators, even in small cases like this one."
