Insider dealing and money laundering etc. Extending the maximum criminal sentence for market abuse
Criminal market abuse is split into two different areas: insider dealing and market manipulation. An example of insider dealing is where a person in possession of inside information uses that information for personal gain, for example, by buying or selling a share to which the information relates.
	The criminal market abuse regime in the UK is primarily composed of the insider dealing offences in the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and the market manipulation offences in the Financial Services Act 2012. These offences are currently punishable by up to seven years in prison.
	In terms of seriousness and the harm caused to society, market abuse is comparable to other economic crimes such as fraud or bribery, which carry a maximum sentence of ten years. The maximum sentence length for crimes of this nature has been identified as one factor in deterring individuals from committing criminal market abuse.
	The ‘Fair and Effective Markets Review 2015 ’ (Bank of England, FCA, ‘Fair and Effective Markets Review 2015’, June 2015), published by the Bank of England, FCA and HM Treasury, identified a culture of impunity in parts of the market, coloured by a perception that misconduct would go either undetected or unpunished. Increasing the maximum sentence for market abuse to ten years was one of a number of recommendations made by the review.
	Furthermore, with a current maximum sentence of seven years, there is less scope for judges to impose an increased sentence in particularly serious cases when compared to other economic crimes. Increasing the maximum sentence will allow a greater level of flexibility in particularly serious cases where there are a larger number of aggravating factors, for example a very significant breach of trust by senior individuals or sophisticated criminality by organised criminal groups.
	The Act increases the maximum sentence for criminal market abuse from seven to ten years, bringing it into line with comparable economic crimes.