'Team boss Mercedes suspected of insider trading'

Toto Wolff and Lawrence Stroll are both under investigation over the purchase of Aston Martin shares. The Mercedes team boss allegedly bought €30 million worth of shares in the British marque a year and a half ago, but according to reports it is possible that the Austrian acted with insider information when acquiring a 0.95% stake in Aston Martin. The role of Stroll Sr. in this is also being looked into.

All this has been reported by Le Journal de Montreal on Monday. The Canadian newspaper states that the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority transferred the case to the British Financial Conduct Authority for review.

Reason for investigation

What prompted the launch of an investigation? Wolff bought shares in April 2020 and a month later it was announced that Tobias Moers, coincidentally the person who had been the head of Mercedes AMG until then, would become the new CEO of Aston Martin. Moreover, it became clear late last year that Mercedes intended to acquire an additional stake of up to 20 percent in Aston Martin in exchange for the exchange of technological know-how.

These two announcements coincided with a significant jump in the value of Aston Martin. Was Wolff already aware of Moers' arrival and Mercedes' additional investment? If the answer is yes, then Wolff possessed asymmetrical information which could lead to high penalties. In any case, since mid-April 2020 and the time of writing, Aston Martin shares have risen by more than 60%.

Lips are kept shut

A Mercedes spokesman assured the aforementioned medium that Wolff did not know about additional investments by his current employer in Aston Martin. "No, we are not aware of any such action. All necessary disclosures have been made to the UK financial authorities at the appropriate time," he responded. Furthermore, neither the German stock exchange authorities nor the British authorities wanted to comment on the above information.