By Porter Wright on Friday afternoon, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it filed charges against Steven Cohen, manager of SAC Capital Advisors (“SAC Capital”), for failing to adequately supervise his employees and ignoring signs of suspicious trading activity. Cohen is alleged to have missed warning signs that “any reasonable hedge fund manager” should have seen, though the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Following the short holiday week, below are notable developments in SEC enforcement activity for the week of Dec. 24-28. Insider Trading: One More Charged for IBM-SPSS Merger Scheme The SEC has charged another broker for taking part in an insider trading scheme connected to IBM’s acquisition of SPSS. Trent Martin learned of the impending merger from an … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Below are notable developments in SEC enforcement activity for the week of December 3-7, 2012. Big Lots CEO Resigns Amidst SEC Inquiry The CEO of Central Ohio-based Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) is under scrutiny by the SEC surrounding his sale of over $10 million in company stock prior to a negative quarterly earnings report. Big Lots … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Below are updates on notable SEC enforcement activity from the week of November 26-30, 2012: “White-Out” Firm Found Guilty Jeffrey Liskov and his firm, EagleEye Asset Management, LLC were found guilty of securities fraud by a jury in Boston. The Plymouth, MA firm was found guilty of misleading investors by misrepresenting the risks associated with investments … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Earlier this week, Columbus retailer Big Lots Inc. filed suit in Florida against a stock research company that Big Lots claims obtained nonpublic information about inventory, payroll, and margins. Big Lots claims that research firm Retail Intelligence Group stole trade secrets and aided employees’ breach of fiduciary duties by inducing 72 Big Lots managers to … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Friday the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee bought and sold financial stocks last fall, at the same time that the Committee was approving the bailout, and in the same companies that the Committee would later criticize for incompetence and greed. The article points out two potential … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The SEC announced yesterday charges against a former Citigroup investment banker who allegedly tipped his friends and family about upcoming mergers involving Citigroup’s healthcare industry clients, resulting in more than $5,000,000 in illegal insider-trading profits. The case highlights a common insider-trading scenario: an employees uses inside information not to trade stock in his or her employer, but … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The major U.S. securities exchanges and self-regulatory organizations have agreed to consolidate oversight of insider trading in the hands of two regulators: NYSE Regulation and FINRA. The following equity exchanges and FINRA have signed the agreement, which must now be approved by the SEC: American Stock Exchange LLC Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. CBOE Stock Exchange, … Continue Reading
