Ex-Morgan Stanley Executive on Trial for Insider Trading

飞雪寒冰

Former Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd. managing director Du Jun pleaded not guilty to all 10 counts of insider trading at his Hong Kong district court trial on May 4.

Du, who was head of the company's fixed-income division, was charged with nine counts of insider trading and one count of counseling others to trade based on insider information.

Prosecutors said Du made nine insider share purchases of Citic Resources Holdings Ltd. (HK 1205) between February and April 2007, based on knowledge of the company's acquisition of oil fields in Kazakhstan and northeast China's Bohai Bay.

飞雪寒冰

Du was alleged to have bought HKD 87.1 million worth of Citic Resources shares. Du was also accused of counseling his wife, Li Xin, to trade based on the information.

Shares of Citic Resources rose after the company announced the planned acquisitions in early May. Prosecutors said Du sold the shares in July that year to make gains of around HKD 33.4 million.

Morgan Stanley employees are required to consult and report to their supervisors and other departments before trading in stocks for which they have privileged information.

Prosecutors claimed five sets of email chains and telephone recordings prove that Du had knowledge of the deals before he bought the stock and that he acknowledged the trades needed to be reported.

The authorities were tipped off on Du's trading in Citic Resources in May 2007 and he was dismissed by Morgan Stanley in June that year. In July 2008, he was arrested by Hong Kong police. Du was released on HKD 500,000 bail.

Du's trial will continue on May 5. Under Hong Kong law, convicted insider traders can be fined up to HKD 10 million and face imprisonment of up to 10 years.