Australia jails China executive for insider trading

An Australian court on Friday sentenced a former vice president of Chinese company Hanlong Mining Investment to more than two years in jail for insider trading, officials said.

Bo Shi Zhu, also known as Calvin Zhu, pleaded guilty to three charges of insider trading in July last year and will serve a minimum of 15 months, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) said in a statement.

"In making the order, (New South Wales Supreme Court judge Peter) Hall, among other things, took into consideration Mr. Zhu's high level of cooperation with ASIC's investigation and early guilty plea," ASIC said in a statement.

Zhu, 31, admitted making Aus$1.3 million (US$1.35 million) in share trading while working for three different employers, including Hanlong, after acquiring inside information about proposed takeovers.

They included details related to Australian iron ore explorer Sundance Resources and uranium explorer Bannerman, which were both takeover targets of Hanlong.

Australia's corporate regular, which brought the charges, said the offences occurred between December 2006 and July 2011, and also related to when Zhu worked for Caliburn Partnership and Credit Suisse.

ASIC said its investigation regarding other people associated with Hanlong Mining was ongoing and it could not comment further.