Cohen, SAC Capital reach $135M insider-trading settlement
Kevin McCoy, 01 December 2016
Investment billionaire Steven Cohen and his former SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund have reached a preliminary $135 million settlement of insider-trading allegations filed by investors in Ireland drugmaker Elan.
The agreement, filed Wednesday with a federal court that must approve the settlement, would end a 2012 class-action lawsuit that accused SAC Capital and its affiliates of reaping at least $276 million in profits gained and losses avoided on unlawful trades in Elan shares.
The secret transactions financially harmed other investors in Elan, now part of U.S. drugmaker Perrigo, the lawsuit alleged. The trades resulted from illegal inside information that former Cohen financial lieutenant Mathew Martoma obtained in 2008 about disappointing test results on an experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug developed by Elan and Wyeth, another pharmaceutical company.
