Li Xuli, a former private equity star, was given a four-year sentence and fined 18 million yuan ($2.96 million) for profiting from "rat trading" in Shanghai High People's Court on Tuesday.

Li, 40, former chief investment officer at Shanghai-based Bank of Communications Schroders Fund Management, placed orders for his personal accounts before, or when trading stocks for the mutual fund he managed during February to May 2009, according to the verdict.

He traded on non-disclosed information and made more than 10 million yuan in illicit profits.

The country's securities market has seen some brokers and senior managers of financial institutions use inside information to reap illicit gains and affect share prices, said Zou Bihua, vice-president of the court.