The UK’s financial regulator is set to crack down on insider trading in banks, the body has claimed.
According to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), more of the illegal deals are to be brought before courts in criminal cases. The comments were made by the watchdog’s outgoing chairman, Callum McCarthy, who was speaking before a parliamentary committee.
“One of our ambitions is to get the City to take insider trading more seriously. We are now very clearly asking the government for further powers. That shows our determination,” says McCarthy.
However, the chairman also warned that the regulator would require further powers if the problem was to be effectively tackled. In particular, the FSA is asking for plea-bargaining powers similar to those already in force in the US in order to properly punish insider traders.