A New South Wales justice sentenced Stephen Xiao to eight years and three months jail for insider trading, the longest such sentence ever handed down in Australia.

Mr. Xiao was the managing director of China's Hanlong Mining, and admitted using his position to carry out more than a hundred insider trades related to the company's unsuccessful bid to take over Sundance in 2011.  The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) opened an investigation, and Mr. Xiao fled to Hong Kong, only to be extradited back to Oz in 2014.

"This sentence demonstrates the seriousness of insider trading. Maintaining confidence in the integrity of our financial markets is vital," said ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour in a statement. 

Mr. Xiao has been in custody since January 2014, which applies to his sentence as time-served.  He will have to to serve a minimum of five years and six months of his sentence before being released, making his earliest possible parole date 11 July 2019.