Mark Lyttleton has pleaded guilty to two counts of insider dealing dating back to 2011.

Former BlackRock equity portfolio manager Lyttleton, who earlier this year was charged with three counts of insider dealing, has pleaded guilty to two of them, according to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.

Lyttleton admitted dealing on the basis of insider information he obtained while at BlackRock, where he acted on publicly undisclosed details regarding two stocks, which in turn allowed him to prosper financially by purchasing shares before a public announcement was made.

The stocks concerned are of EnCore Oil and Cairn Energy.

Lyttleton did the trading in 2011 through an offshore asset manager trading on behalf of a Panama-registered company. He left BlackRock in early 2013 and was arrested later in the same year in West London along with his wife, whom the FCA dropped from its investigation last year.

The case was heard at Southwark Crown Court. Lyttleton's sentencing is timed for 21 December and he faces up to seven years’ imprisonment.