London has a serious insider dealing problem. Rare is the bid that lands completely unexpectedly. Most offers are presaged by suspiciously high dealing volumes and a tell-tale run-up in the share price.
This is damaging to the integrity and reputation of the market. Outside investors can have no confidence they are trading on a level playing field with directors and company advisers when this happens so routinely.
AIM, in addition, is facing what is likely to be a difficult year for its image. After the flood of new arrivals on the junior market — nearly 500 floated on AIM this year, raising £6 billion — it is unavoidable that a few bad apples will have got through due diligence. There are almost certain to be a number of AIM failures in the coming months. Add in the apparent fraud at AIM-listed Langbar International, where £365 million has mysteriously gone missing, and the market — a huge success in many ways — is going to be under scrutiny as never before.
Langbar Int stock quotes
Langbar Int stock charts
Follow this thread
