The FSA has fined Alexei Krilov-Harrison £24,000 for using inside information about an AIM-traded company to encourage retail customers to buy that company’s shares. Mr Krilov-Harrison knew that the AIM-traded company had entered into a collaboration agreement with a household name and that this information, once announced, would lead to an increase in share price. Mr Krilov-Harrison used the information as a sales tool in advance of the announcement. He was fined on the grounds that he improperly disclosed the inside information to customers (market abuse pursuant to section 118(3) Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA)) and encouraged them to purchase shares on the basis of the information, knowing that it would be market abuse if he had traded on the information himself (section 123 FSMA).

The FSA found that Mr Krilov-Harrison’s conduct was deliberate and motivated by a desire to obtain a bonus. The misconduct justified a fine of £40,000 but the FSA took account of Mr Krilov-Harrison’s financial difficulties, weaknesses in the compliance culture of his employer and a 20% discount for early settlement.

Read more – http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/final/krilovharrison.pdf
Read more -http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2009/159.shtml