Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Case Sheds Light on Goldman’s Role as Lender in Short Sales
Gretchen Morgenson
The New York Times, 29 January 2016
It would be easy to overlook the case against Goldman Sachs filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 14. It involved a complex piece of Wall Street plumbing, led to a minuscule $15 million fine and came on the same day that Goldman agreed to pay up to $5 billion to settle prosecutors’ claims that it sold faulty mortgage securities to investors.
Osiris Therapeutics counters report questioning sales
LORRAINE MIRABELLA, 23 January 2016
Its stock is off two-thirds from its summertime high, its auditor quit and it’s restating earnings. The past few months have not been friendly to Osiris Therapeutics, a Columbia-based company that’s considered one of the state’s most promising biotechnology firms.
Osiris, known for its stem cell-based products, is in the midst of transitioning from a research firm into a commercial enterprise and making strides with products such as Grafix, a human tissue product that treats chronic wounds such as foot ulcers. But after showing much promise, Osiris, which takes its name from the Egyptian god of death and regeneration, faces uncomfortable questions about its recent missteps. Several shareholders have sued and postings on financial advice websites voice continuing doubts about its sales and financial reports.
Continue reading “Article: Osiris Therapeutics counters report questioning sales”
Asacub Android Trojan: From Information Stealing to Financial Fraud
Kaspersky Lab, 20 January 2016
With millions of people worldwide using their smartphones to pay for goods and services, 2015 saw cybercriminals exploit this by focusing their efforts on developing malicious financial programs for mobile devices. For the first time, a mobile banking Trojan entered the Top-10 most prevalent malicious programs targeting finances. The Asacub Trojan is yet another example of this worrying trend.
The first version of the Asacub Trojan, discovered in June 2015, was capable of stealing the contact lists, browser history, list of installed apps, sending SMS messages to given numbers and also blocking the screen of an infected device – all standard functions for a typical information stealing Trojan. Continue reading “Article: Asacub Android Trojan: From Information Stealing to Financial Fraud”
SEC v Schwab
19 January 2016
A Charles Schwab Corp subsidiary and a former customer told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday that an agency judge overreached when she found them liable for an alleged naked short-selling scheme and ordered them to pay $8.2 million in sanctions.
PDF (3 pages): SEC v Schwab
Goldman Sachs to pay $15 million to settle SEC stock lending case
Suzanne Barlyn, 15 January 2016
(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs & Co GS.N will pay $15 million to settle civil charges that its securities lending practices violated federal regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.
Goldman made improper representations to customers who requested that the firm locate certain stocks for short selling, the SEC said. Goldman told those customers that it had arranged to borrow, or believed it could borrow, the security to settle the short sale, a process known as “granting locates.”
Continue reading “Article: Goldman Sachs to pay $15 million to settle SEC stock lending case”
SEC v Goldman Sachs
14 January 2016
These proceedings arise out of practices engaged in by Goldman’s Securities Lending Demand Team (the “Demand Team”), between November 2008 and mid-2013, in providing and documenting “locates” to enable its customers to execute short sales.
PDF (8 pages): SEC v Goldman Sachs
SEC settles with hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen
Renae Merle, 09 January 2016
Billionaire Steven A. Cohen has been in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors for nearly a decade. His hedge fund, SAC Capital, was once one of the most powerful on Wall Street, managing more than $15 billion for investors and producing stellar returns for years.
But prosecutors suspected that SAC’s success was too good to be true.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan once called Cohen’s hedge fund as a “veritable magnet for market cheaters.” When, in 2013, SAC agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle charges that it tolerated rampant insider trading it was one of the highest-profile successes in the government’s aggressive push against insider trading. Continue reading “Article: SEC settles with hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen”
SEC Settles for Two-Year Bar in Steve Cohen ‘Failure to Supervise’ Case
Bruce Carton, 08 January 2016
The SEC announced today that it has settled its high-profile lawsuit against hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, founder of SAC Capital. Under the Order resolving the case, Cohen will be prohibited from supervising funds that manage outside money until 2018. The SEC had charged Cohen with failing to supervise former portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, who was convicted of insider trading while employed at SAC. Continue reading “Article: SEC Settles for Two-Year Bar in Steve Cohen ‘Failure to Supervise’ Case”
Hedge fund billionaire Cohen settles with SEC after years of being investigated
Anthony Noto, 08 January 2016
Authorities have spent almost a decade trying to corner Steven Cohen on insider trading charges. Today, the hedge-fund billionaire settled the long-standing case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The result: Cohen has been barred from managing client money until 2018. The settlement determined that the hedge fund manager failed to supervise an employee, Mathew Martoma, who was convicted of insider trading. The SEC ruled that Cohen’s family office must bring on an independent consultant to review their activity to make sure they remain compliant with securities laws. Continue reading “Article: Hedge fund billionaire Cohen settles with SEC after years of being investigated”
In Insider Trading Settlement, Steven Cohen Will Be Free to Manage Outside Money in 2 Years
Matthew Goldstein and Alexandra Stevenson, 08 January 2016
Steven A. Cohen, the billionaire investor, is walking away largely unscathed from nearly a decade of investigations by federal prosecutors and securities regulators into accusations of insider trading at his former hedge fund.
On Friday, Mr. Cohen reached a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission that will bar him from managing money for outside investors for the next two years. That is a far cry from the lifetime ban that securities regulators sought when they filed an administrative case against him more than two years ago. Continue reading “Article: In Insider Trading Settlement, Steven Cohen Will Be Free to Manage Outside Money in 2 Years”
Steven Cohen Settles Insider Trading Case with SEC
Steven Cohen, the billionaire investor known as the hedge-fund king, has reached an agreement with federal securities regulators that will bar him from managing the money of his clients until 2018.
For Cohen, the longtime focus of a federal insider-trading investigation, the agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission saves him from a lifetime ban from the industry, an outcome the agency had previously sought.
NovaGold Lower Slightly After StreetSweeper Report
Benzinga, 07 January 2016
Shares of NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSE: NG) were trading lower by more than 1 percent on Thursday following a negative report by The Street Sweeper on Wednesday. The Street Sweeper’s Sonya Colberg argued that while “there may be gold” in NovaGold Resources’ properties, investors “better not count” on the company “digging it out.”
Colberg noted that NovaGold owns 50 percent of 2 separate properties in Alaska (Donlin Gold) and Canada (Galore Creek). Meanwhile, the company is awaiting government approval for over 100 permits in its Alaska property while its Canadian property hasn’t seen any gold recovery despite numerous attempts since 2003. “Expected expenses are massive,” the report stated. ” The prospects are iffy. The risks are enormous. And the excavation route goes straight through investors’ wallets.”
Continue reading “Article: NovaGold Lower Slightly After StreetSweeper Report”
It looks like traders might have manipulated another huge market
Portia Crowe
Business Insider, Portia Crowe
A handful of London traders may have rigged the UK-government bond market, according to reports from Global Capital and The Wall Street Journal.
Global Capital reports that regulators have contacted Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, and Nomura in relation to a possible investigation into manipulation in the British-government bond market.
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
