OSC hands down 10-year trading ban, with an exception

An engineer from Mississauga nailed for insider trading reached a settlement with the OSC Tuesday, agreeing to give up about half his trading profits and a 10-year ban.

An engineer from Mississauga nailed for insider trading reached a settlement with the OSC Tuesday, agreeing to give up about half his trading profits and a 10-year ban.

Anand Hariharan, a Mississauga aircraft maintenance engineer, bought stock in Loral Space and Communications Inc. in 2012 after receiving a tip from a close friend, Satish Talawedekar, that his company, MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Inc., (MDA) was about to acquire Loral.

The move netted Hariharan a profit of $68,683, a 623 per cent return on his original investment while Talawdekar pocketed an extra $11,673.60 on his investment after selling the 1000 shares he purchased on June 27, 2012 – a 26.3 per cent return.

Hariharan is also expected to pay an additional $5,000 in costs and while he’s banned from trading, the OSC made an exception in relation to certain trading for his retirement accounts. He also faces a 10-years registration ban.

“At 9:25 PM on June 26, 2012, MDA publicly announced the acquisition,” according to an OSC statement. “Talawdekar became aware of the acquisition in the course of his employment before there was general disclosure by MDA.

“Talawdekar purchased MDA shares (on June 21, 2012) with knowledge of a material, undisclosed fact.  He also conveyed the substance of the material non-public information respecting the acquisition to his friend, (Anand) Hariharan before it was generally disclosed.”

MDA shares jumped 28 per cent, from $44.65 to $57.13, a day after the deal.

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