The UBS exec helped investors, including hedge funds, make over $15m in illegal profits

A former UBS executive has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his role in a insider trading scheme that netted millions in illegal profits.

Mitchel Guttenberg was also ordered to forfeit $15.8m, reflecting the proceeds of the insider trading scheme.

Guttenberg repeatedly sold insider information about UBS’ ratings of securities to institutional investors who used it to make profitable trades, according to the prosecution.

When Guttenberg told the investors that UBS was about to make an upgrade on a certain company’s stock, the investors would purchase the stock. After UBS made the announcement the stock would usually rise. The illegal investors would then sell the stock to earn a profit.

The investors would do the same when UBS issued a downgrade, short-selling the stock to make a profit.

The information allowed the investors, which included hedge funds, to make over $15m in illegal profits, according to the court documents.