An insider trading case against Asian hedge fund Segantii Capital Management, its British founder Simon Sadler and a former trader has been moved to the District Court.

The Eastern Magistrates' Court approved the prosecution’s request to transfer the case to a higher court.

The next hearing is scheduled to take place at the District Court on July 2, the court ruled.

The maximum prison term a district court judge can impose is seven years, versus two to three years for the magistrate's court.

The case marks a turning point for one of Asia's biggest and oldest hedge funds as well as a step toward heightened scrutiny of trading activities in the region.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said last month it had started criminal proceedings against Segantii, its founder and chief investment officer Sadler and former trader Daniel La Rocca on suspicion of insider dealing in the shares of a Hong Kong-listed company before a block trade in June 2017.

The accusation relates to insider information about Hong Kong-listed fashion chain Esprit Holdings, the court readout revealed, adding Segantii received the information from Tony Psarianos, a person connected to Esprit.

Psarianos was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch from 2007 to 2021, according to SFC licence records.

Sadler, dubbed Asia's "block trade king", is also the owner of his home-town soccer team, Blackpool Football Club. (Reuters)