Swiss Trader to Pay $2.8 Million to Settle Insider Trading Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a Swiss trader has agreed to pay more than $2.8 million to settle charges that he traded on nonpublic information ahead of a Florida-based biometrics company’s acquisition by Apple Inc. A SEC investigation found that Helmut Anscheringer purchased stock and call options in AuthenTec Inc. upon learning from a longtime friend related to an AuthenTec executive that Apple proposed to buy the company, which provided fingerprint sensors and software for use in electronic devices. The call options accounted for nearly all of the series volume on the days he purchased them. Just…
Read MoreSEC Publishes Request for Public Comment on Exchange-Traded Products
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it is seeking public comment to help inform its review of the listing and trading of new, novel, or complex exchange-traded products (ETPs). The request for comment addresses key issues that arise when exemptions are sought by a market participant to trade a new ETP or when a securities exchange seeks to establish standards for listing new ETPs. Due to the expansion of ETP investment strategies in recent years that has led to a significant increase in the number and complexity of these requests, the Commission determined it would be beneficial to…
Read MoreSEC Charges Phony Hedge Fund Manager With Theft of Money Invested by Small Businesses
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against a New Jersey man accused of posing as a hedge fund manager and defrauding small companies out of more than $4 million. The SEC alleges that Nicholas Lattanzio falsely promised small businesses that he would arrange project financing for them and generate substantial returns on money they invested in his Black Diamond Capital Appreciation Fund. He told them they could withdraw their money if the promised project financing didn’t materialize, and he claimed his fund had as much as $800 million under management and a proven track record of producing…
Read MoreSEC Charges Biotech Employee, Two Stockbrokers With Insider Trading on Nonpublic Information About Pharmaceutical Trials and Merger
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged three men living in California with insider trading in the stock and options of a biotechnology company where one of them worked. The SEC alleges that Michael J. Fefferman learned material nonpublic information as senior director of information technology at Ardea Biosciences Inc. He tipped his brother-in-law Chad E. Wiegand in advance of major public announcements related to two pharmaceutical trials, a licensing agreement for a cancer drug, and eventually the acquisition of the company by AstraZeneca PLC. Wiegand, a stockbroker, purchased Ardea stock in various customer accounts based on the confidential information…
Read MoreTrader to Pay $1 Million for Short Selling Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a trader residing in Canada has agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle charges that he shorted U.S. stocks in companies planning follow-on offerings and then illegally bought shares in the follow-on offerings to lock in significant profits with little to no market risk. An SEC investigation found that Andrew L. Evans through his firm Maritime Asset Management violated an anti-manipulation provision of the federal securities laws known as Rule 105 on nearly a dozen occasions. Rule 105 prohibits short selling an equity security during a restricted period (generally five…
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