Market abuse has become a hot topic in the past few months, with
the Financial Services Authority (FSA) demonstrating its commitment
to cracking down on this area. In fact, in some recent high-profile
cases it has issued fines that amount to some of the largest in the
regulator's history.
Market abuse can take a number of forms, including the improper
disclosure of inside information, which has been the basis of a
number of recent cases.
Red light for Greenlight
In January 2012, US hedge fund Greenlight Capital and its
founder were fined £7.2m for market abuse relating to the
June 2009 fundraising for Punch Taverns.
The company's founder and president had ordered the sale of
Greenlight's shares in Punch Taverns after finding out about
the imminent fundraising in a phone call with the pub company's
management and broker. During the call, he had specifically stated
that he did not wish to be made an 'insider' and, on this
basis, believed that the information he
