The prosecutions of a former Cazenove partner and a father and son accused of insider dealing by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will proceed to trial after an attempt to have the cases dismissed failed.

Lawyers for Malcolm Calvert, a former Cazenove trader accused of 6 counts of insider dealing, and Neel and Mathew Uberoi, each accused of 17 counts, argued that the FSA had bypassed a crucial procedure in putting the prosecutions together.

They told District Judge Purdy at City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court that the procedural error was so serious that the prosecutions should be nullified.

The challenge, which the FSA contested, centred on whether the regulator has the authority to launch insider dealing prosecutions in its own right, without the need for permission from the Secretary of State or the Director of Public Prosecutions.

On Friday, Judge Purdy said the FSA does not need permission because the “plain aim of Parliament in creating the FSA was to place it to the forefront in general regulation of fiscal markets, including…criminal proceedings.”

The Uberois’ lawyer said he intends to appeal the decision but Judge Purdy refused his request to put the cases on hold until the High Court had had the chance to consider the issue.

Judge Purdy committed Neel and Matthew Uberoi – who have not entered a plea - to trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The pair are accused of using inside information to trade thousands of shares in two companies – NeuTec Pharma and Gulf Keystone Petroleum – over a four month period in 2006. They declined to comment.

Mr Calvert, who has indicated a plea of not guilty, was also committed for trial at Southwark Crown Court. He is alleged to have used inside information to buy shares in companies including HP Bulmer and RAC, between 2003 and 2005, after he left Cazenove. He declined to comment.

Another FSA prosecution, in which the regulator has accused the former general counsel of TTP Communications, a small telecoms group, of insider dealing, has already been committed to trial.

The three cases are the first the FSA has launched and are at the centre of a renewed crackdown on insider dealing, a criminal offence that carries a maximum seven year jail term.

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