A former CEO of a Swiss bank faces a criminal investigation over alleged insider trading. The banker is accused of using privileged information to trade secretly in his wife's name.
An unnamed ex-CEO of a Swiss bank is being investigated by Switzerland's prosecutor for allegedly trading on privileged information, the Bern-based attorney general said in a email to finews.com. The banker was fined $750,000 in January by financial regulator Finma.
«Our investigation follows a referral by Finma and is focused on the person who was on January 24, 2020 sanctioned in its enforcement proceeding,» the prosecutor said. The case has raised eyebrows in Switzerland, where insider trading convictions are rare and those of former top executives even more so.
Wife as Smoke Screen
When Finma clawed back his unlawfully gained profits, it also banned the banker from securities dealing for six years. While in top management of the bank, including as its CEO, the banker traded through deposit accounts held in his wife’s name at other banks on inside information.
Finma said the misconduct occurred «over a period of many years.» The attorney general said it is in contact with Finma, where enforcement head Patric Eymann issued the sanction. The prosecutor will lean on Finma's evidence in the case, it said.
Naming, Shaming
One of Switzerland's biggest cases of insider trading, against Swiss turnaround expert Hans Ziegler, surfaced three years ago. The case sent shockwaves through Swiss financial circles: though the alpine nation buttressed insider trading rules in 2009, enforcement has in the past been lax.
The Bern-based watchdog has taken a more public tack in naming and shaming bankers, under ex-UBS top banker Mark Branson. Finma's new-found assertiveness comes alongside a more active tone from Switzerland's attorney general on other issues like graft and money-laundering.
