Dalton sanctioned over confidential HealthBeacon share sales
The Central Bank has ordered a former employee to pay €67,580 after he traded while holding inside information. The settlement covers two transactions in 2022 and marks the regulator’s first use of disgorgement as a sanction.
The Central Bank has imposed sanctions totalling €67,580 on Alan Dalton after he sold shares in his former employer, HealthBeacon PLC, while holding inside information.
Dalton admitted breaching the Market Abuse Regulation on two occasions in 2022 and reached a settlement with the regulator on 10 November 2026. The sales took place outside the normal exercise of his employment, profession or duties. Neither HealthBeacon nor any of its other employees or agents were investigated.
The information was not public when Dalton sold his shares. Once disclosed, it had a direct negative effect on the company’s share price, a loss he avoided through his actions.
The original sanctions totalled €87,200: a €65,400 monetary penalty and €21,800 in disgorgement, which reverses unjust enrichment. A 30% settlement discount applied only to the penalty, reducing the total payable to €67,580. It is the first time the Central Bank has imposed disgorgement as a sanction.
Director of Enforcement Karen O’Leary said: “Trading while in possession of inside information, especially when an individual is in a privileged position to hold such information, is an abuse of the system and undermines the integrity of the market and as such is viewed very seriously by the Central Bank.”
O’Leary said reports of suspicious transactions and orders from market intermediaries were a key safeguard against abuse.