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Raj Rajaratnam From Precy Dumlao, Opalesque Asia:

The 11-year prison term given by a New York Federal judge against convicted Ponzi schemer and one-time billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the defunct Galleon hedge fund, is welcome news to all stakeholders in the integrity of the capital markets, said Peter Moore, head of the regulation at the UK compliance consultancy firm The IMS Group.

Reacting to news reports immediately after the sentencing of Rajaratnam, Moore said, "The 11 year sentence for a man described as "the modern face of illegal insider trading" will be welcomed by all stakeholders in the integrity of capital markets. This was not a technical offence but deliberate conduct calculated to profit from illicitly obtained company information not yet known by the market. Essentially, Rajaratnam was securing a higher exam mark than he deserved by having caught sight of some of the answers before sitting the test."

Moore also cited the U.S. criminal case that the UK justice system should take note of. He outlined the following reasons:

• The 11 years exceeds the current maximum of seven available to a UK criminal court. The FSA’s interim managing director and former head of enforcement, Margaret Cole, has publicly requested that the maximum be raised to 10 years
• The case turned on wiretap evidence revealing private conversations in which Rajaratnam gleaned and shared non-public company......................

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