Reuters shares in £2.5 million insider dealing case

Prosecutors said seven defendants were charged with 13 counts of insider dealing investigated by the Financial Services Agency in an operation codenamed Tabernula, Latin for “little shop”.

The seven are accused of using confidential information gleaned from the London printers of Swiss Bank UBS and UK brokerage Cazenove, in a case dubbed Saturn. The FSA is seeking the extradition of an eighth suspect.

The prosecution said it had discovered documents that contained evidence the defendants had tried to crack the codes used by the banks to protect their clients’ names using Internet search engines such as Google.

The court set 3 May 2011 as the start date for the trial, which could last three to four months. The men face up to seven years in jail if found guilty. ■