§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list in chronological order all the cases of suspected insider dealing which have been, or are being, investigated by his Department, the date the investigation started, the sum involved in each case, the date of the suspected offence, the action taken on conclusion of the case, and the penalty imposed, if any.
§ Mr. MaudeIn the interests of efficiency and justice, the fact that an insider dealing investigation is being considered or has been started, the details of the possible offence or possible offender, and the progress of the investigation and its outcome, are not normally announced or confirmed. However an announcement of an investigation may be made if it is considered to be in the public interest to do so, and the fact of a prosecution becomes known when the matter first comes before the court. It has been possible to appoint inspectors to carry out investigations into possible insider dealing offences since November 1986 (though not all investigations of insider dealing have involved inquiries by inspectors). Since then, 28 such appointments have been made. The following investigations have been announced:
Possible insider dealing offences related to: Date of appointment of inspectors (a) Certain actions by Mr. Geoffrey Collier 15 November 1986 (b) Dealings in securities of British and Commonwealth Shipping Company plc 12 December 1986 (c) Information about mergers possibly deriving from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Office of Fair Trading or the Monopolies and Mergers Commission 12 December 1986 (d) Dealings in securities of Unigroup plc 19 October 1987 (e) Dealings in securities of Grand Central Investment Holdings plc 16 November 1987 (f) Dealings in securities of Peachey Property Corporation plc 5 February 1988 (g) Dealings in securities of Consolidated Gold Fields plc 21 October 1988 Prosecutions have been instituted in relation to cases (a), (b) and (c), and it has been decided to take no further action on case (f).
Information about completed prosecutions for insider dealing offences, and about cases where criminal proceedings in respect of such offences have begun but are not completed, is as follows: 97W
Defendant Company security (ies) involved Date of offence or alleged offence Outcome Penalty 4.David John Brooks Suter Electrical Ltd. 4 December 1980 Not guilty n/a 15 December 1980 23 December 1980 24 December 1980 30 December 1980 5 January 1981 6 January 1981 Ronald Hancock Suter Electrical Ltd. 8 January 1981 No case to n/a 15 January 1981 answer 5.Colin Kettle Blockley plc 9 August 1982 Not guilty n/a Neil Thorneywork Blockley plc 9 August 1982 Not guilty n/a 6.Maurice John Naerger Martin the Newsagent plc 6 March 1984 Guilty Fine £800, £100 costs 9 March 1984 7.Brian Fisher Thomson T-Line plc 5 December 1985 Not guilty n/a 8.William Antony Reardon-Smith Reardon-Smith Line plc 28 May 1985 Guilty £3,000 fine; £2,000 costs 9.Geoffrey William Collier AE plc 3 November 1986 Guilty 12 months suspended for 2 years; £25,000 fine; £7,000 costs Cadbury Schweppes plc 14 October 1986 10.Ronald Richard Jenkins The British and Commonwealth Shipping Co. plc 14 October 1986 Guilty £10,000 fine; £2,000 costs Steel Brothers Holdings plc 14 November 1986 11.John Morris Cross Wordplex plc 30 April 1987 Guilty £7,000 fine; sentence of 9 months imprisonment in default of payment. A notice of appeal has been lodged
(B) Current prosecutions Defendant Company securily(ies) involved Date(s) of alleged offence'(s) 12.Jonathon Howard Greenwood, Sara Joy Coren Richard Clay plc August 1985 and October 1985 SGB plc December 1985 Allied Lyons plc December 1985 Wedgwood plc June 1986 McCorquodale plc February 1986 13.Keith Thomas Robinson, Penelope Jane Scott Robinson Mercantile House Holdings plc 5 January 1987 14.David Ivor Holyoak, Arthur Francis Nicholas, Wills Hill, Ian Michael Morl Press Tools plc 5 August 1987 15.Frederick John Briggs Wheway plc 10 November 1987 16.Piers Richard Fitzwilliams Centreway Industries plc 3 July 1987; 9 July 1987; 29 July 1987; 30 July 1987 Cases 9, 10 and 12 resulted from the investigations by the inspectors at (a), (b) and (c). Case 13 also resulted from inquiries by inspectors who were appointed on 11 June 1987. In addition information obtained by inspectors has, in appropriate cases, been disclosed to regulatory authorities, as permitted by section 180 of the Financial Services Act.