Gerard Pique fined €200k for insider trading days after two-month football ban

News

FT Desk

Gerard Pique has been fined €200,000 for operating in the financial stock market with privileged, insider information.

Insider trading is when someone buys or sells shares of a company using important information that has not yet been made public. This information gives the trader an unfair advantage over ordinary investors who do not have access to it, so most legal systems treat this kind of trading as illegal. The practice is seen as unfair because it allows a small group of people to profit from knowledge that should be available to everyone equally.

In this case, the information surrounds medical company Atrys Health's move to acquire the company Aspy Global Services, an organisation specialised in the prevention of occupational risks and corporate health services.

The former Barcelona star acquired 104,166 shares of Aspy in 2021 while in possession of confidential information received from Aspy's largest shareholder, Jose Elias. Pique subsequently sold those shares to turn a profit.

The National Securities Market Commission has fined Pique €200,000 and Elias €100,000 for their offences.

A dramatic week for Pique

The news of Pique's fine comes just a few days after he was handed a two-month ban football following a series of incidents involving match officials this season.

His club, FC Andorra, currently play in the Segunda Division in Spain and were purchased by Piqué's Kosmos Holding Group in December of 2018. Under his ownership, they were promoted to Spain's second tier for the first time in their history in 2022.

They were subsequently relegated in 2024 but bounced back up the next season.

Pique has been at war with officials all season, and things came to a head two weeks ago when Andorra were defeated 1-0 by Albacete.

The World Cup winner took umbrage to some of the decisions made and confronted the referee Ena Wolf, who detailed in his referee's report that player Cristian Lanzarote, sporting director Jaume Nogues and Pique himself all confronted him.

A two-year ban was apparently on the table previously, but he has instead been suspended for two months for "notorious and public acts that undermine sporting dignity and decorum, based on the facts recorded in the referee's report".

Pique was also given a separate six-match ban "for acts involving minor violence toward the referees". Club president Ferran Vilaseca was issued a four-month suspension, while the sporting director Jaume Nogues was also banned.