Monique Melis, a Member at financial advisory firm Kinetic Partners, on the sentencing of Raj Rajaratnam to 11 years in prison for insider trading…

Judge Richard Holwell’s agreement with the recommendation that sentencing should be 20-24 years shows that insider dealing will attract the same custodial sentencing as accounting fraud and Ponzi schemes. This latest ruling sends a clear message to executives in the financial services industry that they need to take market abuse and internal controls seriously. It should be noted that the sentence was only lowered due to ill health and no allowance was given to wait outside jail until the appeal works its way through the system; a clear signal how seriously this case was treated. 11 years with Madoff may give Mr Rajaratnam time to reflect.