Andrew Clark in New York
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 18 December 2008 23.34 GMT
One of Britain's leading financial public relations firms, Brunswick Group, has become the victim of a multi-million dollar insider trading scam secretly orchestrated by the husband of an executive at its New York office.
Prosecutors in the US yesterday charged Matthew Devlin, a former Lehman Brothers banker, with running a $4.8m (£3.2m) illicit trading ring in which he provided tips in return for cash and gifts including a Cartier watch, a Ralph Lauren leather jacket, a widescreen television and Porsche driving lessons.
Devlin has admitted obtaining information about upcoming mergers and acquisitions from his wife, Nina, who is a partner at Brunswick. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the couple were known as the "golden goose" among unscrupulous traders. There is no suggestion that Nina Devlin knew about her husband's activities.
In a statement, Brunswick described his actions as "a violation of trust between husband and wife".
The leak is an embarrassment for London-based Brunswick which employs 400 people in 10 countries and which advises more than a fifth of the FTSE 100's companies. The firm takes pride in its ability to handle confidential, market-sensitive information from clients.
Over a three year period, Mr Devlin's trading ring bought shares before 13 deals on which Brunswick worked as a public relations adviser. These included the $50bn takeover of Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch by Belgium's Inbev and Dow Chemical's $15bn purchase of rival Rohm & Haas. According to the SEC, Mr Devlin gave information to at least four friends and clients, several of whom then passed the tips onto others. The agency has charged a total of nine people with insider dealing.
Founded in 1987, Brunswick is headed by Alan Parker, an influential figure in political circles.
Prosecutors in the US yesterday charged Matthew Devlin, a former Lehman Brothers banker, with running a $4.8m (£3.2m) illicit trading ring in which he provided tips in return for cash and gifts including a Cartier watch, a Ralph Lauren leather jacket, a widescreen television and Porsche driving lessons.
Devlin has admitted obtaining information about upcoming mergers and acquisitions from his wife, Nina, who is a partner at Brunswick. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the couple were known as the "golden goose" among unscrupulous traders. There is no suggestion that Nina Devlin knew about her husband's activities.
In a statement, Brunswick described his actions as "a violation of trust between husband and wife".
The leak is an embarrassment for London-based Brunswick which employs 400 people in 10 countries and which advises more than a fifth of the FTSE 100's companies. The firm takes pride in its ability to handle confidential, market-sensitive information from clients.
Over a three year period, Mr Devlin's trading ring bought shares before 13 deals on which Brunswick worked as a public relations adviser. These included the $50bn takeover of Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch by Belgium's Inbev and Dow Chemical's $15bn purchase of rival Rohm & Haas. According to the SEC, Mr Devlin gave information to at least four friends and clients, several of whom then passed the tips onto others. The agency has charged a total of nine people with insider dealing.
Founded in 1987, Brunswick is headed by Alan Parker, an influential figure in political circles.
No comments:
Post a Comment