Legal

UK Regulator Fines Greenlight Compliance Officer, JPM Cazenove Trader

Nick Parmée 30 January 2012

UK Regulator Fines Greenlight Compliance Officer, JPM Cazenove Trader

The Financial Services Authority has fined trader and former compliance officer at Greenlight Capital Alexander Ten-Holter £130,000 (just over $200,000) for failing to question and make reasonable enquiries before selling Greenlight’s shareholding in Punch Taverns ahead of an anticipated significant equity fundraising by Punch in June 2009. He is also prohibited from performing compliance oversight and money laundering reporting functions.

The UK regulator has also fined Caspar Agnew, a trading desk director at JP Morgan Cazenove, £65,000 for failing to identify and act on a suspicious order from Greenlight to sell Punch shares that allowed the firm to be used to facilitate insider dealing or market abuse.

“Tackling market abuse and insider dealing is not just an issue for the regulator. Compliance professionals and staff on sales and trading desks play a key role in assisting the FSA in detecting and preventing market abuse. Approved persons should be in no doubt as to their responsibilities in this area and the FSA will not hesitate to take tough action where they fall down on these,”  said Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA.

Earlier in the week, the FSA fined David Einhorn and Greenlight Capital £7.2 million for trading on inside information in Punch.

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