20 hours ago
STEVE MARCUS / Reuters
Hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, founder and chairman of SAC Capital Advisors, responds to a question during a conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in this May 11, 2011 file photo.
Steven Cohen's long personal immunity to the accusations of insider trading that have circled his hedge fund and former employees has come to an end.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that Cohen would have to answer to claims that he failed to "reasonably supervise" two senior people at SAC Capital who have been accused of engaging in criminal insider trading. Cohen's case is not, however, criminal and the SEC doesn't accuse him of engaging in insider trading.
Instead Cohen will be accused in an administrative hearing of failing to supervise the wrong doers. Penalties, if any, would be determined through the administrative hearing. The SEC said they could include fines and a bar from the securities industry, which could mean the end for SAC Capital.
"Both portfolio managers provided information to Cohen indicating that they may have had access to inside information to support their trading," the SEC said in a statement. "In each case, Cohen received highly suspicious information that should have caused any reasonable hedge fund manager in Cohen's position to take prompt action to determine whether employees under his supervision were engaged in unlawful conduct and to prevent violations of the federal securities laws. Cohen failed to take reasonable steps to investigate and prevent such violations. "
The SEC said these trades allowed SAC to avoid hundreds of millions in losses.
(Read more: Social media reaction to the Cohen charges)
A spokesman for SAC Capital said: "The SEC's administrative proceeding has no merit. Steve Cohen acted appropriately at all times and will fight this charge vigorously. The S.E.C. ignores SAC's exceptional supervisory structure, its extensive compliance policies and procedures, and Steve Cohen's strong support for SAC's compliance program."
(Read more: SAC Capital's biggest positions)
A spokemsan for Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District in Manhattan whose office is investigating SAC Capital, declined to comment on the SEC's action. Earlier in the week during the Delivering Alpha conference co-sponsored by CNBC and Institutional Investor, Bharara declined to comment on the SAC case, but warned that in general about financial cases "no one is too big to jail."
This might be viewed as a victory of sorts for Cohen. Although he has been accused of civil violations of securities laws, the charges are much less serious than those faced by his employees.
?By CNBC's John Carney. Follow me on Twitter @Carney
? 2013 CNBC.com
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/100900200
Calgary Supermoon 2013 gay kobe bryant first day of summer Abby Wambach Xcel Energy
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.