Ex-Goldman Sachs UK analyst guilty of insider dealing after London trial

A former Goldman Sachs analyst was on Thursday convicted in a London court of using inside information to buy shares in listed companies and make more than 140,000 pounds ($175,650), a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) spokesperson said. Mohammed Zina, 35, was employed by Goldman Sachs International in its conflicts resolution group in London.

A former Goldman Sachs analyst was on Thursday convicted in a London court of using inside information to buy shares in listed companies and make more than 140,000 pounds ($175,650), a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) spokesperson said.

Mohammed Zina, 35, was employed by Goldman Sachs International in its conflicts resolution group in London. Prosecutors said he used confidential information to buy shares in six companies between July 2016 and December 2017, including chip designer Arm Holdings with knowledge of SoftBank Group's impending $32 billion acquisition.

He had pleaded not guilty to six offences of insider dealing and three counts of fraud for allegedly lying to Tesco Bank about the purpose of loans, which prosecutors said were used to buy the shares. A spokesperson for the FCA, which brought the prosecution, said Zina was convicted of all nine counts following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. He will be sentenced on Friday.

His brother Suhail Zina, formerly an associate at law firm Clifford Chance, had also stood trial but was cleared

of all nine charges at the direction of the judge on Feb. 5. Prosecutor Peter Carter told jurors at the start of the trial that Mohammed Zina used "private, confidential, price-sensitive information" to invest on the stock exchange.

He said Goldman Sachs' internal policies strictly forbid any use of confidential information acquired by the investment bank or its employees. "To breach a confidence or to use confidential information improperly or carelessly would be unthinkable," the policy said.

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