Husband 'made millions' by eavesdropping on BP wife

The husband of a BP employee has been charged with insider trading in the US following claims he overheard details of calls made by his wife while working from home.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Tyler Loudon made $1.76m (£1.39m) in illegal profits.

The regulator claimed Mr Loudon heard several of his wife's conversations about BP's takeover of TravelCenters and bought shares in the firm.

BP has declined to comment.

The SEC said: "We allege that Mr Loudon took advantage of his remote working conditions and his wife's trust to profit from information he knew was confidential."

His wife - a mergers and acquisitions manager at BP - worked on the oil giant's takeover of TravelCenters. The SEC said that without his wife's knowledge, Mr Loudon purchased 46,450 shares of TravelCenters stock before the deal was made public in February last year.

Following the announcement, TravelCenters share price rose nearly 71% and Mr Loudon allegedly immediately sold all of his newly-bought shares for a profit, the SEC said.

In a statement the SEC said Mr Loudon did not deny the allegations and agreed to pay a penalty.

He also faces potential criminal charges and if convicted, could face a prison sentence.

During the pandemic, when many employees were unable to work in the office, UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned about managing insider trading risks when working from home.

With working from home now cemented into many organisations working patterns, the FCA has said the "need for effective surveillance at all times" remained critical.