Italy watchdog fines Petrofac CEO for alleged insider trading on Saipem shares

MILAN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Italian market watchdog Consob has imposed fines on Petrofac CEO Ayman Asfari and former Saipem CEO Pietro Franco Tali for alleged insider trading in Saipem (LSE: 0NWY.L - news) shares in 2012, a Consob document said.

Consob said it had fined Asfari 300,000 euros ($355,000) and seized assets worth around 385,000 euros.

Tali was fined 150,000 euros, it said.

Earlier this month Asfari said he had been fined 300,000 euros by Consob in relation to a transaction made in 2012 involving the shares of a listed Italian company.

"The premise of Consob's case was that I met with an Italian executive who provided insider information. I can show irrefutable evidence that such a meeting never took place," he said on Aug. 24.

The CEO said he had not been notified by Consob of the charges and so had not had the chance to defend himself.

Tali, caught up in a corruption probe regarding contracts won in Algeria, announced he was stepping down as CEO of Saipem (EUREX: 577305.EX - news) in a statement issued on December 5, 2012.

In January 2013 Saipem issued the first of a series of profit warnings that sent its shares crashing.

Consob said Asfari and Tali can appeal the rulings to the Court of Appeal. ($1 = 0.8440 euros) (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Francesca Landini)