FCA secures £350,000 confiscation order against convicted insider dealer

Mark Steward, the FCA’s Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight said:

“Mr Clarke engaged in a systematic and long-running criminal enterprise in order to make significant illegal gains for himself and his family. As a result, he has lost his liberty, his livelihood and his reputation and must now pay a substantial confiscation order. The message should now be clear that insider dealers are increasingly likely to be caught and will be made to fully account for their misconduct."

Mr Clarke pleaded guilty to nine counts of insider dealing, contrary to section 52 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and was sentenced to a total of 2 years’ imprisonment on 13 June 2016.

Between August 2000 and January 2013, Mr Clarke was employed by Schroders Investment Management initially as an assistant fund manager and, from 2006, as an equities trader. In these roles, Mr Clarke received inside information about significant corporate events, mainly anticipated public announcements of mergers and acquisitions. He used this information to place trades using accounts in his own name and those of close family members, in respect of which he had been provided with the account numbers and passwords. The offences were committed over a 9 year period between October 2003 and November 2012.

The total amount to be confiscated from Mr Clarke exceeds the profits generated from the nine counts of insider dealing he pleaded guilty to. As a result of the extent of his offending, he is deemed to have a criminal lifestyle, which enables the Court to assume that the profits made from other non-indicted trading within a defined period also represent the proceeds of crime.

In total, the Defendant derived a benefit of £719,658.69 from his criminal conduct. It was agreed that the value of Mr Clarke’s interest in various assets amounted to £350,000 and therefore, a confiscation order was made in that sum.

Notes to editors

1. The confiscation order was made on Monday 24 July 2017.
2. We previously published details[1] of the Defendant’s conviction and sentence.
3. The 'sentence in default' is the term of imprisonment to be imposed if a defendant does not satisfy his confiscation order. In the event that a sentence in default is served, a defendant is still required to satisfy the debt, as well as any interest that has accrued.
4. The FCA obtained a restraint order against Mr Clarke on 14 January 2013 in order to preserve the value of assets in which he had an interest pending the outcome of the FCA’s investigation and the conclusion of the prosecution and confiscation proceedings that followed.
5. On 1 April 2013, the FCA became responsible for the conduct supervision of all regulated financial firms and the prudential supervision of those not supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
6. The FCA has an overarching strategic objective of ensuring the relevant markets function well. To support this it has three operational objectives: to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers; to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system; and to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.
7. Find out more information about the FCA[2].