A former Towry adviser has been banned for at least two years by the FCA “for engaging in market abuse”.

Mark Taylor has also been fined £36,285, the regulator announced this morning.

The FCA said it found that Mr Taylor, an experienced financial adviser who had worked at Towry Limited for 2 and a half years, bought shares in another firm, Ashcourt Rowan plc, off the back of inside information accidentally provided to him in his role at Towry.

Mr Taylor was dismissed from Towry for gross misconduct as a result of the incident, officials said, adding that he provided full admissions to the FCA in an early interview and agreed to settle at an early stage of the FCA’s investigation.

He also provided evidence of serious financial hardship – meaning he escaped the higher penalty of £78,819.

The FCA released a statement explaining the case. It read: “In February 2015 Towry made an offer to acquire Ashcourt Rowan, a wealth management company, for £2.70 per share and discussions continued into March 2015 without a deal being finalised.

“On 12 March 2015, before any public announcement had been made, an internal email was sent to all Towry staff stating that the firm had increased its offer for Ashcourt Rowan to £3.49 a share. Following an attempt to recall the message, a further email was sent to all staff warning them not to act on the information as it was potentially inside information.

“Having read both emails and the attempted recall, Mr Taylor, who had previously traded in shares for his Sipp account using a broker, used his online trading account to purchase 5,582 shares in Ashcourt Rowan for a total of £15,011.82.

“After the public announcement of the increased offer for Ashcourt Rowan, Mr Taylor then sold his shares for £18,509.91 making a profit of £3,498.

“The following day Mr Taylor contacted his broker to ask whether it was possible to reverse the trade as he feared that he may have been guilty of insider dealing. The broker declined and reported the trade to the FCA as suspicious in accordance with their obligations.”

Mark Steward, Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA said:
'There can be no let-up in tackling insider dealing and this case shows the consequences will be grave and serious ones for perpetrators, even in small cases like this one.'

The FCA said it was “minded to revoke the Prohibition Order after two years, on Mr Taylor’s application, in the absence of new evidence that Mr Taylor is not fit and proper”.