Former Credit Suisse Banker Convicted Of Insider Trading

In Manhattan on Monday, a federal jury convicted former Credit Suisse banker Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem on one count of conspiracy and 28 counts of insider trading for tipping off a colleague in Pakistan who traded on inside information of upcoming mergers, resulting in a gain of $7.5 million.  The colleague, Ajaz Rahim, was the chief investment banker at Faysal Bank in Karachi; Rahim is fighting extradition from Pakistan. Naseem was deemed a flight risk and taken into immediate custody pending sentencing. US District Judge Robert Patterson scheduled sentencing for April 7; Naseem faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and up to 20 years in prison on each insider trading count, but prosecutors indicated that sentencing guidelines called for 12 to 15 years total. NYT here, Yahoo/AP here.