Former GLG Partners star trader Philippe Jabre won’t know for months the outcome of his appeal of a £750,000 (US$1.4 million) fine for alleged insider trading, but chances are having a good lawyer who once beat the Financial Services Authority bodes well for him. At a preliminary hearing Monday, Jabre’s lawyer, Charles Flint, charged that the FSA’s call to ban is client for life was “plainly inconsistent with the decision taken by its own Regulatory Decisions Committee.” The FSA had found Jabre guilty of “accidental market abuse,” which means he could keep on trading securities, but now the agency appears to be taking the opportunity of the appeal to “threaten” Jabre by leveling more serious charges that would ban him in an effort to dissuade him from pursuing his action with the tribunal further. Flint also sent sparks flying when he said the fine was improper in the first place because the alleged insider-trading incident occurred in Japan, which is beyond the agency’s jurisdiction. The FSA responded that since we live in a global market, everyone is affected by improper activity anywhere. Flint was the attorney representing Legal & General, the firm that got the regulator a good lashing for the case brought against it last year.
