A former employee of the investment bank Lazard has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on probation by the Frankfurt Regional Court for insider trading. This was announced by a court spokesman on Friday. The co-defendant in the criminal case, the former head of an insurance agency, even received a prison sentence of three years and eight months. According to the financial regulator Bafin, this is the highest prison sentence in an insider proceeding to date. She reported the recipient of the tips and supported the investigation and court proceedings with statements and testimonies in the main hearing. No comment was initially available from Lazard in Germany.
The investment banker had used his insider knowledge of upcoming takeovers of listed companies for almost two years and leaked information to the ex-head of the insurance agency. According to the findings of the investigators, he used them several times to buy shares and derivatives of the companies concerned. According to Bafin, he spent a total of around 8.5 million euros between May 2018 and February 2020 – mainly before takeover bids. The investment bank was involved in almost all of the affected takeovers in an advisory capacity. According to the indictment, the banker had received more than 100,000 euros for this.