“A 49-year-old employee at William Morrison Supermarkets Plc was arrested as part of a U.K. insider-trading probe, according to” Bloomberg News. Insider trading is the trading of a public company’s stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) by individuals with access to non-public information about the company. In various countries insider trading based on inside information is illegal. This is because it is seen as unfair to other investors who do not have access to the information.
Morrisons is Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket and has been struggling with falling revenues. Last month it saw “a 2.4 percent drop in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to November 3. The company has not reported an increase in like-for-like sales since Christmas 2011.”
Warrant in hand, the West Yorkshire police arrested a man in Harrogate, though the FCA did not identify him. The unnamed man is not believed to be a member of the retailer’s management board. While most involved in the matter declined commenting, according to the UK’s laws regarding this matter,
Insider dealing is punishable by a fine or up to seven years in prison.” Finally, UK Finance reports that “Morrisons shares closed down 0.5 percent at 260p ($423.59 US Dollars) on Thursday, far below the year high of 302.5p ($492.83 US Dollars) seen in September.”
Image Credit: www.telegraph.uk