Pair linked to insider dealing hedge fund fined by FSA

27 January 2012 | By Rob Langston

Alexander Ten-Holter was a trader and former compliance officer at Greenlight Capital, the hedge fund fined £7.2m earlier this week.

Ten-Holter was fined £130,000 “for failing to question and make reasonable enquiries before selling Greenlight’s shareholding in Punch Taverns” ahead of its equity fundraising.

The former compliance officer has also been prohibited by the FSA from performing compliance oversight and money laundering reporting functions.

Caspar Agnew, trading desk director at JP Morgan Cazenove, was fined £65,000 by the City regulator for failing to identify and act on a suspicious order from Greenlight to sell the shares.

Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, says: “Ten-Holter’s approach to compliance oversight was wholly inadequate. Serious compliance failures of this nature can have a dramatic effect on the orderliness and integrity of the markets.

“Agnew was an experienced trader, so should have been suspicious of this transaction and aware of his responsibilities to report it.”

A Greenlight Capital spokesperson says: “Alex is a valued member of the Greenlight team and our trader in the UK. We believe that the FSA’s action against him is unwarranted. He has our full support.”

To receive more relevant articles like this one, why not sign up to our briefings and breaking alerts by clicking here and Follow @fundweb