DIRECTOR dealings have been dominated by sales and transfers ahead of the change in capital gains tax that comes into force today. CGT taper relief has been scrapped, increasing the rate of the tax by up to 80% for some investors, from a minimum of 10% to a flat rate of 18%.

London Stock Exchange chief executive Clara Furse sold £5.1m of shares on Monday. She sold 425,165 shares at just over 1,200p a share. Her husband, Richard Furse, then bought the same number at the same price, meaning any gains made so far will have been taxed at the lower rate.

Domino Pizza’s executive chairman Stephen Hemsley transferred nearly £6.5m of shares into a family trust. He also sold more than £500,000 worth of shares, which were rebought subsequently by his personal pension fund. David Goldie at Carphone Warehouse also put over 795,000 shares into a family trust.

Previous sellers for CGT reasons have included Sir John Craven, chairman of platinum miner Lonmin, who sold more than £2m worth. Lonmin said the sale was made “in the light of the 80% increase in the rate of capital-gains tax following the ending of the current UK taper-relief rules on April 6.” The sale saved him an estimated £170,000.

In March, former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke sold his stake in British American Tobacco for just under £88,000.

- Shares in AIM-listed oil services firm Lamprell fell on Tuesday after two of its bosses sold a combined total of nearly £10m in shares.

Chief executive Peter Whitbread made £5m, selling 1.25m shares at 400p a go, while chief operating officer David Moran sold 1.09m shares at the same price, earning £4.36m.

The sales leave Whitbread and Moran, who both joined in 1992, with respective stakes of 1.55m shares in the company, or around 0.8%, and 0.81m shares, or 0.4%.

Directors have in-depth knowledge of their businesses, so it can pay to track their moves. Every week Digitallook.com reveals the bosses who have bought or sold big stakes

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