Ian Hannam loses appeal against market abuse
STAR banker Ian Hannam, a former chairman at JP Morgan, yesterday lost his appeal to overturn a City watchdog ruling that he committed market abuse six years ago.
The decision, by the Upper Tribunal, upholds a ruling by the Financial Services Authority that Hannam disclosed “inside” information in two emails sent in September and October 2008 about an oil deal. He was subsequently fined £450,000.
The watchdog said Hannam did not deliberately set out to commit market abuse or that he lacked honesty or integrity.
Hannam said he was “disappointed” with the ruling.
“Launching an appeal is not a decision to be taken lightly and will require careful thought,” he added. The 130-page ruling released by the Tribunal yesterday is set to spark debate about what advisers should communicate with clients.
“We consider that it could never be in the proper course of a person’s employment for him to disclose inside information to a third party,” the Tribunal said.