Ex-broker draws probation for insider trading role

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday sentenced a former brokerage employee to two years of probation and a $5,000 fine for his part in what prosecutors called one of the most pervasive Wall Street insider trading rings in 20 years.

The broker, Samuel Childs, pleaded guilty in April to accepting money in exchange for concealing insider trading at UBS AG (UBSN.VX) in a case that officials said also involved employees of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bear Stearns Co Inc.

Childs, 36, a former employee of a Manhattan brokerage firm called Assent LLC, agreed to be paid about $100,000 by two colleagues for not reporting their scheme to higher level Assent management, prosecutors said. They said that between August 2006 and November 2006, Childs received $30,000.

At Monday's sentencing, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska handed Childs a sentence of two years probation, a $5,000 fine and return of the $30,000.

Prosecutors said that through an Assent account, Childs's colleagues executed securities transactions based on non-public information regarding upcoming upgrades and downgrades in stock recommendations by analysts at UBS Securities, netting more than $17.5 million.

In his plea bargain, Childs admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and commercial bribery.

In the case announced by the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan and the FBI in March 2007, criminal charges were filed against 13 people, among them employees of some of Wall Street's top banks. (Reporting by Grant McCool, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)