FSA charges banker's wife with 'insider dealing'

Christian Littlewood and his wife, Angie, were charged with 13 counts of insider dealing, and one count of conspiracy to commit insider dealing.

It is also seeking to extradite a 'third' suspect involved, who is unnamed - Singaporean national.

It brings to a close a series of convictions by the FSA, including a high profile conviction of a Cazenove partner that highlights a number of changes to the FSA in the past months.

First, in January it convicted an former Evolution Securities analyst based on circumstantial evidence.

The case - using circumstantial evidence - based on the timing of mobile phone calls between two 'guilty' parties was the first time the FSA had done so without any real evidence.

Now, in two separate cases this week, the FSA has shown how it is not afraid to convict any parties involved, wives as well as non-nationals, in its fight against financial crimes.

Last week, former Cazenove partner, Malcolm Calvert was jailed for 21 months after using confidential information to buy shares ahead of takeover deals between 2003 and 2005.

Sentencing the 65-year-old, the judge told the retired broker that insider dealing was far from a victimless crime:

"It leads to the dishonest enrichment of a few at the expense of the public interest and of confidence in a clean and fair market," said the Judge to Malcolm Calvertat London's Southwark Crown Court yesterday.