Who leaked potential takeover talk at International Power?
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is said to be investigating sharp "unexplained" movements in share price of International Power after a period of speculation during which the name of GDF Suez has been mentioned as a potential bidder for the company. Despite the fact that the companies announced the "end of talks" yesterday there is concern as to how initial talks were leaked to the market and the impact this had upon the share price.
While the FSA is unwilling to comment specifically on this case at the moment, it is known that the share price of International Power has been under review for some time amid growing speculation, rumours and comments in the market. Whether we will actually see any prosecutions or traders censored over the issue remains to be seen, but yet again there appears to have been a leak to the UK stock market ahead of an official announcement by the companies involved.
There is no doubt that the FSA is becoming more and more concerned about inside information and insider trading in the UK and around the world. We have seen some of the largest penalties dished out over the last few months and while the FSA campaign against insider trading will continue, this is a very expensive exercise with alleged insider trading often difficult to prove in a court of law.
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