Investment banker and wife charged with insider dealing - third suspect arrested in Mayotte
15th March 2010Christian Littlewood, a senior investment banker, and his wife Angie Littlewood (also known as Siew Yoon Lew and Angie Lew) have been charged with 13 counts of insider dealing contrary to section 52 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and one count of conspiracy to commit insider dealing contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. They have been bailed to attend City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 6 April 2010.
The offences relate to trading in a number of different London Stock Exchange and AIM listed shares between 2000 and 2009.
In addition a third suspect has been arrested in Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Comoros Islands. The suspect - a 33 year old Singaporean national - was arrested by the French authorities in Mayotte pursuant to a European Arrest Warrant issued by City of Westminster Magistrates' Court at the request of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He is due to appear before a local court later this week in relation to a request for extradition to the UK to face charges of insider dealing.
This is the first time that the FSA has sought the extradition of a suspect from abroad to face criminal charges in the UK.
The new strategy, involving an integrated model of risk analysis and research, would see the FSA making judgements on firms' decisions and actively intervening in product design. There will also be a greater willingness to test outcomes through mystery shopping and on-site visits. Furthermore, the FSA will also improve the framework and delivery of redress to consumers, starting with a review of the complaint-handling standards of all the major banking groups.
Hector Sants said: "A successful consumer protection strategy must restore consumer confidence in the financial market place. A key element of restoring that confidence is that the consumer can trust the regulator. This strategy will restore trust in the regulator and will benefit everyone, consumers and providers."
Hector Sants reiterated: "A regulator must be willing to place themselves between consumers and harm. We will only achieve this by taking a proactive stance."
