Two partners in the London offices of American law firms and the finance director of a British company taken over in 2006 by drugs giant Novartis have been committed for trial to Southwark Crown Court by City of Westminster magistrates on eight charges of insider dealing.

Andrew King, former finance director of Neutec Pharma and the lawyers Michael McFall and Andrew Rimmington are accused by Financial Services Authority investigators of buying shares eventually worth £150,000 on inside information.

McFall is a former partner with the Chicago-based international law firm McDermott Will & Emery, who set up his own private-equity firm in 2004. Rimmington has been a partner at the London office of mid-market American firm Dorsey & Whitney.

It is the fifth insider dealing criminal prosecution brought by the FSA in the past 18 months in a clampdown on market abuse.

King is charged with disclosing inside information relating to Novartis's proposed £305 million takeover of Neutec Pharma to McFall. McFall is charged with passing on that inside information to Rimmington and on three occasions acquiring a total of 3955 shares in Neutec. Rimmington is charged with trading on that information by buying 6961 shares in Neutec and then with McFall acquiring 3012 shares in Neutec.