Former Logica manager Ryan Willmott has pleaded guilty to trading using inside knowledge when Logica was being taken over by CGI Group.
He used a former girlfriend's name without her knowledge to trade.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought the case against Willmott, who was previously group reporting and financial planning manager at Logica, relating to profits of over £30,000 that he made from the insider dealing.
Willmott admitted dealing based on information he had gleaned about the takeover when he was employed by Logica. He will be sentenced on 26 March.
Willmott set up a trading account in the name of a former girlfriend, without her knowledge, to complete a trading, and also gave information to a friend to do deals on his behalf.
“Those who are entrusted with inside information commit a serious breach of trust by disclosing or trading on that information,” said Georgina Philippou, the FCA’s acting director of enforcement and market oversight. “This case shows that using others to try to cover up that breach of trust does not prevent detection. The FCA will not stand by when people take part in opportunistic insider dealing.”
CGI, a Canadian IT and business process outsourcing company, acquired Anglo-Dutch firm Logica for £1.7bn in 2012.
Through the acquisition, CGI has secured a large UK public sector customer base. It recently signed a four-year contract to provide the UK government’s security vetting service.
It also provides IT security services to the satellite communications system used to manage European airspace, where it developed safety systems integration and IT security services for the project known as Iris Precursor.