Magnate faces a 6-year sentence over alleged insider share trading
HEXAGON chief executive Ola Rollen did not commit insider share trading when he bought shares in Next Biometrics in 2015, the Swedish businessman’s lawyer told a Norwegian court yesterday.
Rollen, one of Sweden’s best known business leaders, went on trial this week in Oslo for alleged insider share trading related to a 2015 investment in Norway’s Next Biometrics. The transaction did not involve Hexagon itself.
Rollen, who denies wrongdoing, faces up to six years in prison if found guilty.
The case follows a string of scandals among leading companies in Sweden.
Yesterday, defence lawyer Christian B Hjort said his client did not possess privileged information about Next Biometrics at the time of the share purchase and that the transactions were motivated by his own independent analysis of the company.
A purchase of some 284 000 shares in Next Biometrics on October 6 and 7 2015, made by Rollen’s partly-owned investment firm Iskossala, amounted to illegal insider trading, police said, as Iskossala was also involved in negotiations with Next to take a larger stake at a higher price. When a cash infusion was announced a few days later, Next’s shares surged 83 percent.
Hjort argued the shares jumped because of Rollen’s investments and his strong standing among Swedish retail investors.
“Without Rollen there would be no rise in the share price. It was created by his own investment.
“That’s why there is no abuse of insider information,” said Hjort. – Reuters