Exclusive – Steve Cohen says insider trading rules are “vague”
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen in sworn testimony earlier this year called the rules on insider trading “very vague” and said sometimes it’s a “judgment call” as to whether a tidbit about a public company is inside information.
The founder of SAC Capital Advisors LLC, one of the hedge fund industry’s best-known firms, offered up his views on insider trading during two days of deposition testimony in February and April this year as part of a long-running civil lawsuit filed by Canadian insurer Fairfax Financial.
Bad data II
By Matthew Goldstein
Bad data continues to confound the U.S. government in its measurement of the economy, with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York noting it too has been a victim.
In the Fed’s most recent report on outstanding consumer debt, the nation’s central bank said it recently discovered it had been underestimating the total dollar amount of student loan debt for a number of years. In the report, the NY Fed said some of the under-counting may have stemmed from the methodology used by one of its vendors.
Phil Falcone’s ray of sunshine
By Matthew Goldstein
Leave it to Phil Falcone to find a glimmer of good news to relay to the beleaguered investors in his Harbinger Capital Partners. A day after U.S. securities regulators threatened to sanction the billionaire hedge fund manger for alleged trading irregularities, Falcone told investors in his roughly $4 billion firm that not all is lost.
In a note emailed to investors the day after Falcone officially learned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering charging him with a number of securities law violations, the former Harvard hockey star told them that nothing the SEC is looking at involves his beloved LightSquared.
SEC closes Fairfax investigation on hedge funds: sources
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators are closing a long-running investigation into allegations that two well-known hedge funds conspired to spread negative information about Toronto insurer Fairfax Financial, two people familiar with the inquiry said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently sent letters to lawyers for hedge fund managers Steven Cohen and James Chanos, advising them that the agency was terminating an investigation that began in fall 2008, two people familiar with the matter said.
The curious Mr. Kotz and the SEC
By Matthew Goldstein
If we’ve learned nothing from the financial crisis, it’s that we need smart regulators to be minding the store. And we need someone to make sure the regulators are up to that job and not shirking their responsibilities.
So it was a breath of fresh air when David Kotz assumed the role of inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007.
MF Global a month later and still a mystery
By Matthew Goldstein
It’s been about a month since MF Global began spiraling towards bankruptcy and still there’s no clarity about what happened to the missing customer money that was supposed to be kept in untouchable, segregated accounts. It’s not even clear how much money is missing.
When the Jon Corzine-led firm filed for bankruptcy on Halloween, it was believed some $900 million in customer money couldn’t be accounted for in MF Global’s segregated accounts maintained at Harris Banks and other institutions. That sum was quickly revised downward to about $600 million. And the number remained at $600 million until the court-appointed liquidation trustee surprised everyone last week by saying more than $1.2 billion in customer money might be missing.
Tyrone Gilliams keeps going and going despite charges
By Matthew Goldstein
It’s been an eventful month for hip-hop promoter and commodities trader Tyrone Gilliams, the man federal authorities allege defrauded investors out of at least $5 million.
The self-styled Philadelphia philanthropist was indicted by federal prosecutors on securities fraud charges on Nov. 14 after being arrested on criminal complaint in October. The Securities and Exchange Commission this week also filed civil fraud charges against the 44-year-old former University of Pennsylvania graduate and college star basketball player.
At the intersection of Wall and Main
By Jennifer Ablan and Matthew Goldstein
Whether you agree with it or not, the Occupy Wall Street protests that began two months ago in New York have ignited a debate over income inequality and the political clout of the nation’s banks.
Before the protesters began camping out in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, much of the conversation had focused on the federal government’s debt and not the equally big debt run-up by U.S. consumers in the years before the financial crisis. Now it seems you can’t go a day without reading a story about the vast gulf between rich and poor and the shrinking middle class, or how the housing crisis won’t get fixed until something is done to alleviate the burden for millions of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages.
Why Wall Street still doesn’t get it
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It was a telling moment at the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests.
John Paulson, the hedge-fund trader who famously made billions betting on the collapse of the housing market, was threatened by the demonstrators with a march on his Upper East Side home in New York last month. Paulson responded by putting out a press release that described his $28 billion, 120-person fund as an exemplar of the American Dream: “Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City.”
Insight: Why Wall Street still doesn’t get it
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It was a telling moment at the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests.
John Paulson, the hedge-fund trader who famously made billions betting on the collapse of the housing market, was threatened by the demonstrators with a march on his Upper East Side home in New York last month. Paulson responded by putting out a press release that described his $28 billion, 120-person fund as an exemplar of the American Dream: “Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City.”
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