Former BlackRock fund manager jailed for insider trading

LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 21 (Reuters) - A former fund manager at the London division of the asset manager BlackRock Inc (Sao Paolo: BLAK34.SA - news) on Wednesday was sentenced to 12 months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of insider dealing.

Mark Lyttleton admitted buying shares shortly before the public announcements about EnCore Oil Plc and Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L - news) after hearing privileged information from colleagues.

Lyttleton, who was arrested in 2013, dealt through an overseas asset manager trading on behalf of a Panamanian registered company.

Lyttleton is one of the highest profile figures in Britain to be sentenced for insider trading. His funds were popular with investors during the financial crisis as he posted positive returns and at the peak he personally managed assets worth about 4.5 billion pounds ($5.6 billion)

($1 = 0.8079 pounds) (Reporting by Andrew MacAskill, editing by Huw Jones)