Insider trading by 'tippees' (persons who receive information from insiders rather than being insiders themselves) falls towards the lower end of seriousness but still normally warrants custodial sentences. Community service orders are at the very bottom of the available range. The word 'merging' in the context of insider trading information has no technical meaning and can encompass a transaction in the nature of a sale resulting in some lessening of competition. Rumours and media speculation are materially different from information received from an informed source for the purposes of determining whether information was 'generally available'.
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