BlackRock's Bolton faces insider dealing investigation

BlackRock has defended head of European equities Nigel Bolton after Italian regulator Consob launched legal proceedings against him.

The regulator announced last Friday it has begun civil proceedings against Bolton, alleging he used non-public information in a sale of shares in Italian oil & gas company Saipem. The sale of 10.7m shares, made between 25 January and 29 January last year, came prior to a profit warning by Saipem after market close on 29 January and thereby helped avoid client losses of €114.5 million, according to Consob. In response, BlackRock said it had conducted its own investigation and found "no evidence to support the allegations". "As a result of the investigation, BlackRock believes that t...