One of Hong Kong’s best-known hedge fund managers profited from inside information to the tune of HK$1.7mn on a single deal, a court heard on Monday in the first day of a trial.
British financier Simon Sadler appeared in the dock in Hong Kong’s District Court on Monday alongside former trader Daniel La Rocca. They, and Sadler’s hedge fund Segantii Capital Management, face criminal charges by Hong Kong prosecutors over alleged insider trading of clothing retailer Esprit’s stock dating back to 2017.
Sadler and La Rocca, who worked at Segantii, are accused of acting on inside information when dealing in shares of Esprit ahead of an imminent so-called “block trade”. A block trade is an off-market purchase or sale of a large amount of shares in a single transaction.