Banker and wife charged with insider dealing

An investment banker and his wife were today charged with 13 counts of insider dealing dating back over a decade. Christian Littlewood, a former employee of Dresdner Kleinwort, and his wife Angie were bailed to attend City of Westminster magistrates court on 6 April. They are accused of insider trading in a number of different shares quoted on the London Stock Exchange between 2000 and 2009. A third suspect, a 33-year-old Singaporean national, has been arrested in the Comoros islands off the east coast of Africa. The FSA is seeking his extradition to the UK to face charges of insider dealing – the first time the City watchdog has tried to extradite a suspect from abroad. The Littlewoods were arrested in March last year during a series of raids conducted by City of London police and FSA staff . This swoop was seen as a sign the FSA was getting tougher about insider trading, having faced criticism for not preventing more market abuses. Last week, a former partner of investment bank Cazenove was jailed for 21 months after being convicted of insider dealing. Malcolm Calvert, who retired from the company 10 years ago, had asked a friend to buy shares in three firms that were involved in proposed takeovers, making the pair more than £100,000 profit. Littlewood had worked for Dresdner Kleinwort since 2001, but left the bank in March 2008. It is understood he was served notice by Dresdner at the end of 2007. He then briefly worked for Dawnay Day, the financial services group, before moving to investment bank Shore Capital in August 2008. Dresdner Kleinwort was taken over in 2008 by Commerzbank. Commerzbank declined to comment on the Littlewood case today.