Reuters columnist resigns after trading in stocks he wrote about

A columnist at Reuters Breakingviews has resigned after multiple breaches of the Thomson Reuters code of conduct on stock trading, and cases involving other columnists are being investigated, according to a story from the wire service.

The Reuters story states, “‘While we have no evidence the journalist was abusing his position for financial gain, we take such breaches extremely seriously and that journalist resigned with immediate effect during our investigation,’ said Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger in a note to staff on Monday.

“Schlesinger added that several other cases had come to light as a result of questioning Reuters Breakingviews staff where disclosures to readers or managers could or should have been made.

“The investigations continue and none of the journalists involved have been named.

“Schlesinger said the columnist wrote commentary about companies in which he had a financial interest and made trades shortly afterwards.”

Read more here. The Guardian newspaper in London has additional details here, naming the columnist and reporting that some columns have been edited to include a disclaimer.

Here is the e-mail from the fired columnist to Reuters.