Continuing its crackdown on the improper use of inside information, the UK Financial Services Authority announced Tuesday that it has fined an executive at Credit Suisse for disclosing confidential client information.

The FSA says that it has fined Nicholas Kyprios, head of European credit sales at Credit Suisse in London, £210,000 for improper market conduct in disclosing client confidential information ahead of a significant bond issue in November 2009.

Credit Suisse was acting on behalf of Liberty Global, Inc. during its takeover of UnityMedia GmbH which was to be partly financed by a €2.5 billion bond issue. According to the FSA, as part of that process, Kyprios was given confidential information by Credit Suisse, told that it was inside information, and instructed in writing not to disclose it to third parties.

On November 11, 2009, Kyprios called a fund manager to invite him to the bond issue road show. The FSA says that the fund manager asked him about the bond issue and, in response, Kyprios engaged in a guessing game, including advising when the fund manager was ‘getting warmer’. As a result of the guessing game, he signaled several pieces of confidential information to the fund manager.

“While the FSA accepts that he did not set out to disclose the information, Kyprios’ conduct in trying to push to the limit what he could say resulted in him crossing the line. His behaviour was well below the standards we expect of senior market professionals who we should be able to rely on to uphold the system rather than seek to get round it. The high penalty reflects the seriousness of Kyprios’ breach,” said Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA.

The FSA notes that Kyprios agreed to settle at an early stage, and in doing so qualified for a 30% discount on the financial penalty. Without the reduction the FSA would have fined him £300,000.