The criminal insider trading case against billionaire investor Raj Rajaratnam and his Galleon hedge funds represents a significant ramping up of the US commitment to tackle market abuse.

Court documents in the case claim to reveal extensive use of confidential witnesses and the first wire taps in an insider dealing case. Such tactics are reminiscent of the full-bore approach the US has long used to tackle mobsters and drug gangs but their use is novel in this kind of white-collar crime.