February 2018 – Financial Treason & Crime

Tom Hals, 22 February 2018

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Data analytics and security company Palantir Technologies Inc must open its books to early investor Marc Abramowitz, who wants to investigate possible fraud and mismanagement at the highly valued private U.S. company, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Abramowitz sued the secretive firm, known for helping the U.S. government track down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, after a 2015 falling out with Alexander Karp, the company’s chief executive officer. The lawsuit alleged that Palantir wrongly barred Abramowitz and others from selling stock in the privately owned company, while permitting sales by Karp and Chairman Peter Thiel.
Continue reading “Article: Palantir ordered to open books to investor seeking U.S. fraud probe”

02/21/201803/11/2021

Article: Robert Mueller charges lawyer with lying to federal investigators during Russia inquiry

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Robert Mueller charges lawyer with lying to federal investigators during Russia inquiry

News Corp Australia Network, 21 February 2018

ROBERT Mueller, the special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, has charged a lawyer with making false statements to FBI agents conducting the investigation.

Alex Van Der Zwaan, the son-in-law of Russian oligarch German Khan, made the statements in November 2017 when he was interviewed about his work with a law firm hired in 2012 by the Ukraine Ministry of Justice to create a report on Yulia Tymoshenko. Continue reading “Article: Robert Mueller charges lawyer with lying to federal investigators during Russia inquiry”

02/20/201804/05/2021

Article: Antelope Enterprise Holdings Ltd – 6-K – CCCL / China Ceramics Co., Ltd FORM 6-K (Current Report of Foreign Issuer) – April 20, 2018

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Antelope Enterprise Holdings Ltd – 6-K – CCCL / China Ceramics Co., Ltd FORM 6-K (Current Report of Foreign Issuer) – April 20, 2018

Fintel, 20 February 2018

On April 19, 2018, China Ceramics Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Agreement”) with certain individual investors relating to a registered direct offering, issuance and sale (the “Offering”) of an aggregate of 770,299 of its shares (the “Shares”), at a purchase price of $1.56 per share, the closing price of the Company’s equity securities as reported on Nasdaq on the same date. The Shares were offered pursuant to the Company’s previously filed and effective Registration Statement on Form F-3 that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 21, 2015, subsequently amended, and declared effective October 15, 2015 (File No. 333-206516). The Company filed a prospectus supplement related to the Offering dated April 19, 2018. Continue reading “Article: Antelope Enterprise Holdings Ltd – 6-K – CCCL / China Ceramics Co., Ltd FORM 6-K (Current Report of Foreign Issuer) – April 20, 2018”

02/19/201803/04/2021

Article: Russian mafia money laundering trial begins in Spain

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Russian mafia money laundering trial begins in Spain

The trial of a Russian Member of Parliament, Vladislav Reznik, and 17 other suspects started in Madrid’s National Court on Monday.
A number of the suspects are thought to have links to the Kremlin. Mr. Reznik is a member of President Putin’s United Russia party.

The suspects were arrested in 2008, charged with a €50m money-laundering operation linked to Spanish real estate. If found guilty, the suspects are looking at a €100m penalty and five years in jail.

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02/09/201802/27/2021

Article: Why Tucows Inc. Shares Fell 23% in January

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Why Tucows Inc. Shares Fell 23% in January

Anders Bylund, 09 February 2018

In late January 2021, GameStop experienced a once-in-a-decade squeeze that has captivated the world’s attention. It was a premeditated and programmatic exercise, orchestrated by coordinated stock and option buying across the retail and professional community, resulting in large institutional entities losing billions of dollars. Investment houses with significant short positions did not expect a stock with GameStop’s fundamental profile to increase +2,500% in price over less than three weeks; therefore, they did not have the controls in place to handle the incredible levels of stock and call option purchases. The frenzy drew comments from the White House, provoked a social media crackdown, caused brokerage units to restrict trading, and has led to a Congressional hearing on GameStop on Thursday, February 18th.
Continue reading “Article: Why Tucows Inc. Shares Fell 23% in January”

02/06/201802/27/2021

Article: Here’s Why Shares of Ballard Power Systems Sank 18% in January

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Here’s Why Shares of Ballard Power Systems Sank 18% in January

Scott Levine, 06 February 2018

Shares of Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP), an industry leader in fuel cell solutions, plunged more than 18% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The decline follows a report from Spruce Point Capital that cast a critical eye on the company and assigned a long-term price target for the stock of $1.15 to $2.50. Through 2017, Ballard’s stock had risen 167%, ending the year at $4.41.

Ballard has high hopes for its success in the Chinese market — by providing solutions to bus and truck manufacturers — over the next several years. In fiscal 2016, for example, the company attributed 39% of its revenue to sales there, and forecasts that it will contribute 45% to its top line in fiscal 2020. However, it’s less optimistic about success in other markets, guiding for sales in North America (its second-largest source of revenue) to remain stagnant at 33% from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2020 and sales in Europe to slide from 22% to 18% during the same period.
Continue reading “Article: Here’s Why Shares of Ballard Power Systems Sank 18% in January”

02/02/201803/04/2021

Article: ‘Hedge Fund King’ Steven Cohen Gets Back to Business

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‘Hedge Fund King’ Steven Cohen Gets Back to Business

Money Talking, 02 February 2018

Before he was known for an insider trading scandal, Steven Cohen was known as the “hedge fund king,” bringing sky-high returns to clients at his super successful firm, SAC Capital Advisors — and serving as an inspiration for the Showtime series “Billions.”

Now, Cohen is looking to get back into business after a two-year ban on trading other people’s money ended at the start of this year. With his new company, Point72 Asset Management, Cohen is once again courting clients and their billions — up to $4 billion, according to a recent report from Bloomberg. Continue reading “Article: ‘Hedge Fund King’ Steven Cohen Gets Back to Business”

02/02/201803/18/2021

Article: Deutsche Bank Ordered to Pay $70 Million for Manipulation of USD Swap Rates

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Deutsche Bank Ordered to Pay $70 Million for Manipulation of USD Swap Rates

Finance Magnates Staff, 02 February 2018

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an order directed at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (DBSI), to pay a $70 million civil monetary penalty over charges of attempted manipulation of the ISDAFIX benchmark, between 2007 and 2012.

The US Dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix is a global benchmark, used in the settlement of various interest rate products, including cash settlement of options on interest rate swaps. The allegations indicate that Deutsche Bank and some of its traders intentionally attempted to manipulate the benchmark, in an effort to benefit the bank’s positions. The specific USD ISDAFIX rates and spreads that the bank attempted to alter are the ones issued at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time each day, and act as a mid-market rate to accommodate settlements across various financial markets. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank Ordered to Pay $70 Million for Manipulation of USD Swap Rates”

02/01/201805/12/2020

Article: “Junk” explains Wall Street corruption better than most newspapers do

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“Junk” explains Wall Street corruption better than most newspapers do

Lucy Komisar

The Komisar Scoop, 1 February 2018

I have been doing investigative journalism about financial and corporate corruption for 20 years. Ayad Akhtar’s play is right on the mark.

It is based on the story of the corrupt junk bond trader Michael Milken. He got confederates to manipulate stocks so he could take over companies to loot and destroy them. It was a scandal of the 1980s. Too bad the market corruption he revealed never stopped.

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