Advertisement 1

Former Banco Santander executive indicted in U.S. for Potash Corp insider trading

A former European banker faces insider trading charges for allegedly acting on information about an impending 2010 bid from Australian mining giant BHP Billiton for Saskatchewan's Potash Corp

Article content

A former European banker who allegedly bought securities in Saskatchewan’s Potash Corp., after learning from inside information of a looming takeover bid, has been indicted for insider trading in the U.S.

In a release Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the indictment of Cedric Canas Maillard, a 41-year-old Spanish citizen and former adviser to the chief executive of the Spanish bank Banco Santander SA.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Mr. Maillard faces insider trading charges for allegedly acting on information about an impending 2010 bid from Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. for Potash. After learning information in advance through his job at the bank, he is accused of buying equity in Potash and then selling it again after Potash announced it had received and rejected a US$38.6 billion hostile takeover offer from BHP.

Article content

Following the announcement, Potash shares rose from a closing price of US$112.15 prior to the announcement, to US$143.17. Mr. Maillard sold his equities on the same day the announcement was made, profiting by almost US$1 million, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges.

Mr. Maillard has been charged with two counts of securities fraud, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a US$5,000 fine. He had not been arrested when the Department of Justice issued the release.

In July, Mr. Maillard settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission based on the same insider trading allegations. Mr. Maillard agreed to pay US$1.92 in penalties and improper gains in the settlement.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

This Week in Flyers