Developing…
There is what looks to be a rather large insider dealing case breaking in Germany involving allegations that share prices may have been manipulated by the media. Snap from Bloomberg:
Munich prosecutors conducted 86 raids in Germany and other countries yesterday in a probe of stock fraud, market manipulation and insider trading. Fifty-three raids took place in Germany, 29 in other European countries and four outside Europe, Munich prosecutor spokesman Thomas Steinkraus-Koch said in an e-mail. Several people are being investigated, he said, declining to identify them or the stock involved. The operation was handled by 11 prosecutors, 10 employees at financial regulator Bafin and 200 police officers. “We are looking into allegations that share prices may have been manipulation by using publications,” he said. “Because that case is pending, we can’t say more now. We are just at the beginning of the case.”
Apparently there were some convictions of penny stock operators in Germany recently, where investment newsletters were being used to puff share prices, but we are not sure whether this is related.
But 86 raids — that’s a lot!
Quite separately, Britain’s FSA was busy on Thursday morning in Northwich, Cheshire, and Rossendale, Lancashire.
Three individuals, two men aged 43 and 42 and a woman aged 35 have been arrested and are currently in custody to be questioned in connection with an investigation in to insider dealing.
The FSA said the arrests were not linked to any other existing insider case.
There were no further details at pixel time.