FT Vows To Defend Itself In Collins Stewart Libel Case

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

20 August 2004

The Financial Times has vowed to defend itself against libel charges brought against it by Collins Stewart over an article which detailed the accusations of a former employee of the brokerage regarding insider trading and dealing activities which allegedly took place at the firm.

Despite the fact that the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) has dropped its investigation of Collins Stewart, the FT's editor, Andrew Gowers argued that:

"It is the FT's contention that this was a public document and that the article which is the subject of Collins Stewart's libel action fairly and accurately reflected its contents."

He went on to reiterate that:

"The fact that the FSA has written to Collins Stewart indicating that its investigation has now closed makes no difference to the merits of the FT's defence to Collins Stewart's libel action."

Speaking to Reuters, Collins Stewart Chief Executive Terry Smith announced that:

"Our view was always that the allegations were spurious. Now they can be seen in that light. We look forward to seeing Mr. Middleweek and others in court".

The controversy began last year when, in a 32-page report submitted to the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), former Collins Stewart employee James Middleweek alleged that pressure was exerted on analysts to force them to support the firm's corporate finance business by issuing favourable analyses of share issues of sometimes dubious quality.

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