FCA spent over £300k on insider dealing duo who made £43k

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) spent over £300,000 investigating and prosecuting two men who made about £43,000 through insider dealing, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) response (FOI12288). The regulator spent £167,000 of the total costs on external counsel and barristers.

Total costs incurred amounted to around £310,000, which does not include any costs incurred since March 2025, the FCA said. This sum includes only ‘external costs’ and does not include any internal FCA staff time. “We are unable to provide a breakdown of internal FCA staff time/costs because this is not information which we track,” it added.

Reduced plea

Matthew and Nikolas West pleaded guilty to six instances of insider dealing in May 2025, following a prosecution brought by the FCA. Matthew West used confidential inside information to deal in shares of Proactis Holdings Plc, Palace Capital Plc, Concha Plc, and Bushveld Minerals Limited between November 2014 and January 2020.

He also disclosed inside information in relation to a fifth company, Asimilar Group Plc, to his brother Nikolas West — who used this to deal. Total profits from the dealing were £42,948, the FCA said in a statement.

When the regulator first announced the prosecution, however, the charges related to eight stocks and reflected a number of instances of trading by both defendants. The FCA said at the time the brothers made about £110,000.

Investigation lasted over 6 years

The FCA investigation into the brothers was opened in 2018, and lasted six years and five months, FOI12288 confirmed. The pair will be sentenced on September 1, at Southwark Crown Court in London.

In this case, the insider dealing was punishable by a fine and/or up to seven years’ imprisonment.

In March 2024, a court found Stuart Bayes guilty of insider dealing. He made a profit of just over £132,000. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years in May 2024.