The Stockholm District Court has today announced a ruling in a case concerning insider crime that took place during the years 2018 - 2020 in the listed company Collector AB.

Eleven people have been charged, all of whom are therefore held accountable. Two main accused persons, former Balder CFO Magnus Björndahl and current Head of Finance Marcus Hansson, are convicted of e.g. serious insider trading to imprisonment for a maximum of 1.5 years. The other nine people are convicted of insider trading of the normal degree and unauthorized disclosure of inside information. There, the penalty has been set to a suspended sentence with a fine.

Insider trading has taken place shortly before the company has published price-driven news, e.g. a major press release in January 2020 on a profit warning and a new share issue, which had a strong effect on the share price. The district court has concluded that the accused, through insiders, have used such insider information to their advantage and thereby made large share gains.

"The district court can state that there has been a question of extensive and joint stock trading within a limited circle of persons, all of whom are in some way connected to each other. In addition, some communication has been secured in connection with trade, e.g. via text message, which strengthens the conclusion that the defendants have had a knowledge advantage over the rest of the market. It has also emerged that some of the defendants have had good opportunities for transparency in Collector AB's operations. These circumstances combined have in this case been enough for a conviction," says councilor Peter Adamsson in a comment.

In addition to the sanction, the convicts must repay the share gains they have made, which is a total of approximately SEK 2.1 million. The defendants must also bear their own legal costs in the case.