Watchdog fines Kenneth Carver £35,000 for part in Logica insider trading scheme
Former accountant Kenneth Carver was yesterday fined £35,212 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for his part in the Logica insider trading scheme.
Carver is a family friend of recently imprisoned Ryan Willmott who pleaded guilty to three counts of insider trading during his time as a financial planning and group reporting manager for IT management firm Logica.
Willmott dealt on information he obtained regarding the takeover of Logica by CGI Group in May 2012 and has been jailed for 10 months. Carver bought 62,000 shares in Logica during the scheme and made a profit of £24,206.70 from selling the shares after they saw a 59.8 per cent rise from the takeover announcement.
FCA acting director of enforcement and market oversight Georgina Philippou said: “Carver… used his own funds to place a trade on Willmott’s behalf and knew that Willmott had a financial incentive to persuade him to trade. Market abuse is a serious offence and today’s fine reflects the fact that we will not hesitate in taking action against individuals who act on inside information.”
However, since Carver co-operated with the FCA and settled at an early stage of the probe, his fine was reduced from the £122,212 it would otherwise have been.