The Constitutional Court is to consider a case the Financial Services Board is worried could jeopardise future investigations into insider trading, were the court to find against the board.

SA introduced insider trading laws about four years ago and the board is the body given the task of investigating allegations of insider trading.

The case before the Constitutional Court follows a direct approach by Norman Ingledew, a former director at Skills Accel, a listed company.

Ingledew was refused leave to appeal by a high court, on an investigation relating to insider trading claims made by the board against him.

Before pleading to the claim, Ingledew asked for the full record of an investigation by the board. He said he required all the documentation in the insider trading investigation to enable him to obtain a fair trial in the high court.

The board argued disclosing some of the material would infringe its professional legal privilege, and would breach the right to privacy of informants. This would jeopardise future investigations into insider trading.

The Pretoria High Court ruled that Ingledew did not need the information for pleading purposes.

It said: "It may happen that Ingledew will obtain access to that information at a later stage."

The constitution also provides that everyone has a right to be informed of a charge, with sufficient detail to answer to it. And while the context is different, some of the issues bear a resemblance to those former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni and top aerospace firm executive Michael Woerfel raised recently.

The two face fraud and graft charges that relate to government's R43bn arms deal.

The Commercial Crime Court dismissed an application the two made to try to compel the state to provide further particulars in their fraud and corruption case.

Ingledew, like them, wants to appeal against a high court finding, before his insider trading case. His application for leave to appeal if decided in the Constitutional Court will be binding on all lower courts on the issue, as well as articulate the position to adopt in similar cases.

With acknowledgements to Bonile Ngqiyaza and Business Day.