INVALUABLE ADVICE ON INSIDER TRADING FOR THOSE WHO REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers And Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”

When two barristers are let loose in this area of company law, the reader will deduce very quickly that we have an extraordinarily good book on our hands. And so, it is with this first-class short read on “Insider Dealing” from Waterside Press written by Gregory Durston and Mohsin Zaidi. It is a book for everyone and we found the approach easy to read.

Waterside Press are to be congratulated on the publication of this “little book” and we hope this is the start of a series of short works which bring the basic legal position on substantive law issues to the general readership.

The authors rightly say that, since the financial crisis ten years ago in 2007–8, criminal prosecutions have moved “centre-stage” as the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) considers prosecution as a preferred means of punishing and deterring insider dealing. The words “insider dealing” (or trading) can be described as “the illegal practice of trading with access to sensitive non-public information”. Sadly, there are still many who do not accept the obtaining of such information which does not, of course, give us a level field for trading.

“The Little Book of Insider Dealing” reviews, in short order, all aspects of what we call ‘insider’ offences which were enacted by the Criminal Justice Act in 1993. The writers have included their history, punishment and rationale, as well as the “slightly uneasy” (that is putting it charitably) relationship between the overlapping civil regulatory regimes which cover such financial misconduct. And sadly, another example of the friction between the civil and criminal systems which should, one day, be rationalized… although we doubt it!

Durston and Zaidi review the following areas of insider dealing in some detail: detection, compliance, surveillance, suspicion, reporting obligations, enforcement and the civil and criminal penalties and warnings.

We were very pleased to note a strong focus on evidential requirements, and useful examples taken from real life cases. The book starts with this observation: a front-page headline of “The Times” newspaper recently announced, 'City traders getting away with abuse of markets – insider deals by white-collar criminals ignored’. And the book progresses quickly to a detailed statement for the uninitiated on the crime of insider trading/dealing specifically looking at the problems of evidence.

The authors come full circle with this final comment which sums up where we are today: “ultimately, everything turns on how seriously the crime is viewed, and this is something about which there is, and always has been, a huge variety of opinion; which is almost where this little book began”. We cannot commend it highly enough for anyone involved in this industry. Thank you, Waterside Press, you are putting justice into words!

The paperback book was first published on 21st February 2018.