Infosys APAC BPO Head jailed for insider trading
By Meenakshi Iyer

Infosys has been trying to keep the story under wraps but the ostrich can't keep its head in the sand permanently. Allen Lam, blue eyed boy and Head of Infosys Asia Pacific BPO business has pleaded guilty for insider trading during his stint with CLSA in 2005. Lam tipped Ryan Fong, a friend and ex-hedge fund manager at HSZ Ltd with inside information

Lam told Ryan of plans by JCDecaux Pearl & Dean, an outdoor advertising company, to buy a 73.38 % stage in Hong Kong listed Media Partners International Holdings. Lam was privy to this information being a senior banker in CLSA. Predictably, both made a small fortune by investing personal funds and capitalizing when the share price rose. Lam made the investment via his wife's account.

Allen Lam and Ryan Fong have been taken into custody. Read Michael Blanchflower's (legal counsel to Lam) hilarious plea to the judge, "Please don't send him to prison. Mr. Lam made no direct personal gain. The profit made by his wife was "a very, very small amount". Allen was jailed for 6 months and fined $8,900

Allen Lam did high profile stints with Bank of America and CLSA before joining Infosys. Allen was VP and Head of Infosys Asia Pacific BPO at the time of his arrest and was looking after Bangkok, China and Philippines.

I wonder what CEO and MD, Infosys BPO, Mr. Chaudhary has to say on this conviction. Incidentally, Lam is a colleague of Mr. Chaudhary since their Credit Lyonnais Securities/Bank of America days, and reportedly the blue-eyed boy had a lot of growth promise within Infosys. The Satyam saga started with a small misappropriation and soon Mr. Raju was riding the tiger.

Over to Infosys and risk management.