Gardaí arrested two men on Friday as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected insider trading.
The investigation was launched after the Garda was alerted to a number of transactions by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Both men are currently detained at a Garda station in Dublin under section four of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
The investigation is being led by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB).
The Garda said a spokesperson was not available to discuss details of the case as it was an “ongoing criminal investigation”.
Earlier this year, in an unrelated case, the first person to be convicted of insider trading in the State’s history was fined £60,000 (almost €70,000) at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Declan Service (63), of Sunnyvale Avenue, Portrush, Co Antrim, pleaded guilty to insider dealing between May 18th and 22nd, 2020, when he used sensitive market information to sell shares before that information was made public.
The court heard that Service, who was suffering from cancer and long-term depressive illnesses, effectively gambled his retirement fund by using inside knowledge to offload his shares in a pharmaceutical company days before buying them again at a discounted rate.
The court heard that Service made a profit of roughly £11,500, which would have increased to £44,000 if he had retained his shares for one year.
The alarm was raised when Goodbody Stockbrokers alerted the Central Bank to suspicious transactions made by Service, who was one of their clients.
Separately in 2022, the president of the High Court confirmed a number of penalties on high-profile businessman Philip Lynch for insider dealing.
Mr Lynch was a former chairman of An Post, founding chief executive of listed investment group One51 and long-time boss of another listed business, IAWS.
A panel of assessors set up by the Central Bank recommended he be fined €75,000 and disqualified from being involved in a regulated financial services company for five years.
Mr Lynch’s barrister noted it was an atypical instance of inside trading in that it had not been done for his client to make immediate gains.
