A former US-based institutional client manager in UBS' equity research department, has been sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison after admitting selling non-public information about the bank's stock recommendations, according to Reuters.

Mitchel Guttenberg had admitted in court earlier this year that on many occasions between 2001 and 2006 he told two traders about upcoming analyst stock recommendations. He was among 13 people, including former employees of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns, who were criminally charged last year in an insider trading ring, said the report. He made more than $17.5 million from insider trading, the court heard.

Mr Guttenberg, who was not fined, had planned to give information to others to use illegally "from the moment he joined the (UBS) investment review committee” according to Judge Deborah Batts of US District Court.