The man, who at the time worked at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange's market surveillance, shared information about upcoming takeover bids for several listed companies. Two people close to him are said to have then bought shares in the companies. The man is now sentenced to one year in prison for aggravated insider trading on three occasions.
"The district court believes that the prosecutor has proven that the person who had the inside information on three occasions advised or encouraged two other people to buy shares," says councilor Ricardo Valenzuela in a press release from the court.
Regarding the punishment for the man with the inside information, the court "has particularly taken into account that he has held a position associated with a very special trust," Valenzuela states.
Earned 715,000
Through insider trading, the two individuals made profits totaling SEK 715,000. They are sentenced for insider trading to a suspended sentence and community service, or a suspended sentence and a fine. The profits will be forfeited and their company will also pay a corporate fine.
A fourth person is not convicted of anything as the prosecutor dropped the charges against her.
Raid 2023
The Economic Crime Authority carried out a raid on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in the autumn of 2023 following suspicions of serious insider trading. The suspected transactions were made in trading shares in, among others, Ica and Swedish Match in advance of bids for the companies concerned. In total, the suspicions concerned the purchase of shares in five companies, but the district court finds that the evidence is insufficient in two of the cases.
The handling of the case has also caused problems for Nasdaq. The American exchange operator was fined SEK 100 million this summer after a sanction decision by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) for failing to report the suspicious transactions.
