UK 02:58 Friday, 9 October 2026
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Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from ShareProphets). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
One year ago, IGas Energy CEO Andrew Austin deceived his shareholders. He issued an RNS claiming to have bought 300,000 of his company’s shares, when in fact he had net sold 7,200,000. After weeks of painstaking research, and on the anniversary of this shameful episode, ShareProphets can exclusively reveal the loophole the like of Mr Austin have sought to exploit to get around the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) through their dodgy deals with Equities First Holdings LLC (EFH). The explanation is complicated, but the results are both shocking and appalling. Through EFH directors can sell stock and not declare it. The FCA must close this loophole now.
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Comments
wildrides
Send him to “pig Island” in the Bahamas so that tourists can come in a boat just to throw veg to him but he cant get off the island . ( see video of pig island on youtube )
turbograndad
Tom,
We have laws against money laundering, but not even rules about share laundering, which is the same offence in my book.
Welcome to the world of mickey mouse crony capitalism, nice work Tom.
Ben Turney
@Turbo – cough… it’s actually Nigel Somerville who deserves the credit on this one!!!
turbograndad
Sorry Nigel, “ I shot the sheriff, I did not see his deputy “ cough!!
UpandUnder
Great work Nigel. Your tenacity in exposing Piggy Austin, the IGas board and their advisers as the lying toe-rags they clearly are is truly, laudable. The stench from this whole episode is gut-wrenching.
Mike
Austins other benefit in off loding shares this way is the avoidance of any tax on the disposal of these shares. Would HMRC be interested?
compliance officer
Nigel
I think you might be mistaken about the loophole….
My reading of DTR5.1 is that the LENDER is not required to disclose their shareholding because they are the “collateral taker”.
The BORROWER, however, is not a collateral taker and so it must be their obligation to report the change in their holding.
nigel somerville
Compliance Officer – My thinking is that the ‘borrower’ has to declare a disposal (since we now know it was a sale) of shares to EFH (who would, at time of receipt, hold them), but the exemption means that those shares are disregarded. Surely this results in the transaction being disregarded from ‘borrower’ point of view, and thus not reported by the ‘borrower’. I do take your point, though: it does look to read both ways.