A staff member at Paris-based hedge fund Syquant Capital is under suspicion for allegedly providing insider information to his brother, facilitating profitable trades on stocks like ArcelorMittal and Alstom prior to market-moving announcements, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites a court ruling earlier this month as revealing that investigators from France’s stock market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers conducted a raid on the financier’s home in September, confiscating a laptop and three iPhones, as well as accessing his social media accounts for evidence. The ruling upheld the legality of the AMF’s actions after they were challenged by the financier.
The suspicious profits, while not substantial, involved an unusual number of stocks — up to 22 different companies. The identity of the suspect remains undisclosed, and it is unclear if he is still employed by €3.1bn Syquant, which specialises in event-driven investments.
The case centres on five suspicious trades made between 2020 and 2021. In each instance, Syquant had access to insider information as companies sought potential investors before public announcements. The staffer’s brother then allegedly used contracts for difference to profit from predicted stock movements, earning up to €45,000 from a dip in Swedish steel firm SSAB’s stock, as well as nearly €9,000 by trading Alstom shares just 15 minutes before Bouygues SA announced the sale of 11m shares in the trainmaker.
Trades in Just Eat Takeaway.com and ArcelorMittal, meanwhile, were linked to planned capital raises of €1bn and $2bn respectively.
IP address analysis suggests it is “very probable” that some trades were executed at Syquant’s premises by the employee for his brother. The AMF also noted numerous “opportunistic and atypical transactions” by the brother in other securities, and investigators are also scrutinising trades made by an unidentified woman.
