Brothers hit with £284K confiscation order for insider dealing that netted £44k in profits

Two brothers received suspended sentences for insider dealing at Southwark Crown Court today. Matthew John West and Nikolas James West made a combined £44,164 from using insider knowledge to trade in stocks of five companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Both brothers pleaded guilty at a hearing in May 2025.

Sentencing the pair, judge Christopher Hehir said that if insider dealing flourishes then confidence in financial markets diminishes.

He sentenced Matthew West (aged 44) to 15 months for each of the five counts — four counts of insider dealing contrary to Section 52(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and one count of disclosing inside information contrary to Section 52(2)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. The sentence was concurrent and suspended for two years provided West completes 200 hours of community service within 12 months.

Nikolas West (aged 46) received six-month sentence — suspended for 12 months — after admitting one charge of insider dealing contrary to Section 52(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1993.

Judge Hehir also imposed confiscation orders and court costs on the pair. For Matthew West, these were £181,000 and £38,000 respectively and for Nikolas West they were £102,150 and £12,600.

The FCA has spent over £300,000 investigating and prosecuting the pair, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request received by Compliance Corylated.

Experienced

At the sentencing hearing on September 1, Alexandra Healy KC, appearing for the prosecution, said that while they were not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), both West brothers were “experienced” day traders who showed some “sophistication” as their illegal trading had been conducted via companies they owned, rather than as individuals.

Healy said that the investigation into the illegal trading had begun in June 2018 and the pair were in the in the midst of trading on insider information about AIM-listed Asimilar Group plc in January 2020 when they were arrested. The arrests gave investigators access to the brothersʼ Telegram account, where messages revealed that Matthew West had contacted his brother about illegally trading in Asimilar only minutes after receiving insider information.

In all, the shares of five AIM-listed companies were traded on using insider information that Matthew West was privy to because of his position as a day trader. Besides Asimilar, these were: Proactis Holdings plc, between 3 and 11 November 2016; Palace Capital plc, between 17 September and 10 October 2017; Concha plc, between 18 and 23 September 2017; and Bushveld Minerals Ltd, between 21 and 27 March 2018.

Healy explained that the case had taken so long to come to court because the initial investigation had been wider than the insider dealing that the pair were eventually charged with. Also, an expert investigator ceased practising during the course of the investigation, which necessitated another investigator taking over.

Caring responsibilities

Judge Hehir said he took into account that Matthew West was a “family man with substantial caring responsibilities” and that Nikolas West’s “family situation [meant that] he would be better off back in Dubai”, as well as that neither man had reoffended since being charged in 2020.  

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Greed got the better of them. The West brothers knew the rules and still chose to break the law. 

“This should serve as a reminder that the FCA will take action against those who abuse their position and break the law — including depriving them of their ill-gotten gains.”