Article: Should You Invest in the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH)?

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Should You Invest in the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH)?

Zacks Equity Research, 07 December 2020

Launched on 12/20/2011, the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Healthcare – Pharma segment of the equity market.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors. Continue reading “Article: Should You Invest in the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH)?”

Article: The Vitol Enforcement Action: Part 1 – Market Manipulation Through Corruption

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The Vitol Enforcement Action: Part 1 – Market Manipulation Through Corruption

Thomas Fox, 07 December 2020

Last week the Department of Justice (DOJ) settled a multi-part enforcement action, partly involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with Vitol Inc. (Vitol), the US subsidiary of Vitol Holding II SA. Vitol agreed to pay a combined $135 million to resolve matters.

Interestingly, also included in the overall settlement was a disgorgement of more than $12.7 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a related matter and a penalty payment to the CFTC of $16 million related to trading activity. The FCPA component was settled via a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) and Criminal Information (Information). Continue reading “Article: The Vitol Enforcement Action: Part 1 – Market Manipulation Through Corruption”

Article: Vitol to pay $95.7 million to settle fraud, market manipulation charges

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Vitol to pay $95.7 million to settle fraud, market manipulation charges

Reuters Staff, 04 December 2020

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Energy and commodities trading firm Vitol Inc has agreed to pay $95.7 million to settle charges of corruption-based fraud and attempted market manipulation, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday.

Houston-based Vitol did not admit or deny the charges, but agreed to pay the civil penalties related to making bribes and offering kickbacks to employees of certain state-owned entities in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico in exchange for “preferential treatment and access to trades,” the regulator said.

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Article: Why Nano-X Imaging Stock Continues to Surge

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Why Nano-X Imaging Stock Continues to Surge

Rich Smith, 02 December 2020

Shares of Nano-X Imaging (NASDAQ: NNOX), the Israeli X-ray machine maker with the novel business idea of giving its products away for free (and then taking a cut of the revenue when doctors use the machines to take X-rays), is back in investors’ favor again. Over the past 10 days, shares of Nano-X have surged 79% — including a big 7% jump today as of 2:20 p.m. EST.

Why is Nano-X doing so well today? To learn the answer, you first have to go back in time a couple of months to mid-September, when Citron Research published a report branding Nano-X as “Theranos 2.0” and a company that not only “has never published any data showing their machine’s images compared to images from a standard CT scanner,” but has actually never even showed investors that it has a machine at all.

These and similar accusations from the short-seller devastated Nano-X’s stock over the summer, but on Thursday starting at 11:30 a.m. EST, Nano-X will attempt to refute all of the above by hosting “a live demonstration that will showcase the Nanox digital x-ray source tube and a range of 2D and 3D imaging applications performed by the Nanox.ARC at the 2020 Radiology Society of North America Virtual Annual Meeting.”

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Article: The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It

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The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It

Michelle Celarier, 30 November 2020

John Fichthorn had been in the hedge fund business for more than 20 years when a half-hour phone call with a stranger put him on high alert. In December 2017, Fichthorn — a veteran short-seller and the founder of hedge fund Dialectic Capital Management — had joined the board of a troubled small-cap company called Health Insurance Innovations. But when he happened to mention its name to a prospective investor a year later, the man told him an alarming detail. Continue reading “Article: The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It”

Article: Top official implicated in corruption scam with FSB links

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Top official implicated in corruption scam with FSB links

The Bell, 08 March 2021

The Russian banking sector was rocked by the arrest of several high-ranking FSB officers last year who covered up a bribery scandal (as reported by The Bell and investigative outlet Proekt). This week, we learned of yet another player in the scam — the deputy head of state-owned Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) that manages failing banks. An investigation by Meduza, VTimes and Proekt found that one of the agency’s senior managers set up a system that diverted funds to rescue struggling banks into the pockets of contractors (who paid kickbacks). Continue reading “Article: Top official implicated in corruption scam with FSB links”

Article: Former Overstock.com CEO says he’s funding ‘a team of hackers and cybersleuths’ in an attempt to prove that Trump won the presidential election

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Former Overstock.com CEO says he’s funding ‘a team of hackers and cybersleuths’ in an attempt to prove that Trump won the presidential election

JOHN L. DORMAN, 29 November 2020

Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said that he’s financing “a team of hackers and cybersleuths” in an attempt to prove that President Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, according to The Daily Beast.

Byrne, who stepped down from his position at Overstock last year after admitting to a relationship with a Russian spy, recently went on the One America News Network (OAN), a conservative news outlet and a favored media destination of Trump, to detail what he described as a “rigged” election process. Continue reading “Article: Former Overstock.com CEO says he’s funding ‘a team of hackers and cybersleuths’ in an attempt to prove that Trump won the presidential election”

Article: UBS refuses to produce trading data in HFT market manipulation case

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UBS refuses to produce trading data in HFT market manipulation case

Maria Nikolova, 26 November 2020

A landmark securities class action case involving allegations of market manipulation via high frequency trading (HFT) continues at the New York Southern District Court. The latest dispute in this case, which targets major US stock exchanges, concerns trading data. In particular, the plaintiffs in this case – a group of investors, allege that UBS Securities has to provide them with a decent volume of trade data. UBS, which is not a party to the litigation, says it does not have to do that.

On November 25, 2020, UBS Securities filed a Letter with the Court, requesting that the plaintiffs’ motion to compel it to produce a heavy volume of trade data be denied. Continue reading “Article: UBS refuses to produce trading data in HFT market manipulation case”

Article: Bill Browder threatens legal action over Swiss bank accounts linked to Magnitsky scandal

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Bill Browder threatens legal action over Swiss bank accounts linked to Magnitsky scandal

Sam Jones, 25 November 2020

High-profile Kremlin critic and investor Bill Browder has threatened Credit Suisse and UBS with legal action for breaching US sanctions if they unfreeze accounts belonging to three Russian clients accused of a huge tax fraud against his investment company.

The two Swiss banks hold assets worth more than $24 million (CHF21.8 million), which Browder says were gained from fraud perpetrated in Russia against his investment business, Hermitage Capital, in 2007. Continue reading “Article: Bill Browder threatens legal action over Swiss bank accounts linked to Magnitsky scandal”

Article: Qatar starts legal proceedings against FAB in New York in market manipulation row

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Qatar starts legal proceedings against FAB in New York in market manipulation row

Reuters Staff, 24 November 2020

DUBAI (Reuters) – The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) said on Tuesday it has started legal proceedings in New York to compel First Abu Dhabi Bank to pay $55 million in financial penalty imposed by a Qatari court.

The Qatari regulator last year had fined United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank 200 million riyals ($55 million) for obstructing an ongoing investigation into suspected market manipulation, a charge FAB denied.

“FAB has failed to make payment against this final judgment rendered by the Civil and Commercial Court (QFC Court) in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) thereby requiring the QFCRA to take steps to enforce the court’s judgment under well-recognised measures for international enforcement of money judgments,” the Qatari regulator said in a statement.

Qatar in 2018 alleged that First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ largest lender, made “bogus” foreign exchange deals to harm Qatar’s economy after the UAE and other Arab states began a boycott of Qatar in 2017.

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Article: Jupiter Wellness Awarded Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Safe Sea(R) for the Entire Florida Market

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Jupiter Wellness Awarded Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Safe Sea(R) for the Entire Florida Market

ACCESSWIRE, 09 November 2020

upiter Wellness, Inc. (NASDAQ:JUPW), a cutting-edge wellness brand dedicated to providing multiple therapeutic and medical uses of cannabidiol (CBD), today announced the signing of an exclusive distribution agreement for Safe Sea products. The distribution agreement’s initial phase is through the end of 2021 and covers all of Florida.

Safe Sea develops, markets, and distributes the world’s first sunscreen that provides protection from jellyfish stings and sea lice. The Safe Sea line of products are also patent protected, biodegradable and safe to marine life, and provide UVA/UVB protection from the sun’s harmful rays. Continue reading “Article: Jupiter Wellness Awarded Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Safe Sea(R) for the Entire Florida Market”

Article: Investigations Newsletter: Russian National Sentenced to Prison for $100 Million Cyber Fraud Conspiracy

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Investigations Newsletter: Russian National Sentenced to Prison for $100 Million Cyber Fraud Conspiracy

Arent Fox, 06 November 2020

On October 30, 2020, a Russian national was sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a scheme to illicitly obtain and use sensitive personal and financial information online over the course of twelve years, resulting in more than $100 million in estimated losses. In February, the defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.

The government alleged that, from 2007 through 2019, the defendant and other cybercriminals used “botnets,” or networks of infected computers, to engage in a large-scale scheme to steal and traffic sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information and online banking credentials. Continue reading “Article: Investigations Newsletter: Russian National Sentenced to Prison for $100 Million Cyber Fraud Conspiracy”

Article: Jupiter Wellness, Inc. Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering

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Jupiter Wellness, Inc. Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering

ACCESSWIRE , 04 November 2020

Jupiter Wellness, Inc. (NASDAQ:JUPW) (the “Company”), a cutting-edge wellness brand dedicated to exploring the multiple therapeutic and medical uses of cannabidiol (CBD) via a multitude of convenient products, today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 933,333 units consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant for gross proceeds of $7,000,000, before deducting offering expenses. Aegis Capital has fully exercised its option to purchase up to 140,000 warrants. The shares and warrants began trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market on October 30, 2020, under the symbols “JUPW” and “JUPWW.” Continue reading “Article: Jupiter Wellness, Inc. Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering”

Article: Form 424B4 Jupiter Wellness, Inc.

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Form 424B4 Jupiter Wellness, Inc.

BONGIOVANNI MICHAEL J, 02 November 2020

We are offering 933,333 units (each, a “Unit”), each Unit consisting of one share of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and one warrant (each a “Warrant”), in a firm commitment initial public offering at an offering price of US$7.50 per Unit. Each Warrant is immediately exercisable, will entitle the holder to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of US$8.50 and will expire five (5) years from the date of issuance. The shares of common stock and Warrants may be transferred separately immediately upon issuance.

We have been approved to list our shares of common stock and Warrants for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market, subject to official notice of issuance, under the symbols “JUPW” and “JUPWW”. Completion of this offering is contingent on the approval of our listing application for trading on the Nasdaq Market.

We are an emerging growth company under the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, or JOBS Act, and, as such, may elect to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for future filings. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk.

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Article: 180 Life Sciences Corp. (ATNF) FORM 424B4

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180 Life Sciences Corp. (ATNF) FORM 424B4

Seeking Alpha, 02 November2021

This prospectus relates to the proposed resale or other disposition from time to time of an aggregate of 9,108,836 shares of the common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of KBL Merger Corp. IV, a Delaware corporation, by the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus, of which: (i) 750,000 shares of common stock are held by certain of the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus that are party to either the June SPA or the September SPA; (ii) 1,388,890 shares of common stock are issuable to one of the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus that is a party to the June SPA upon the conversion of $3,666,666.66 of our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series A Stock”) and all accrued and unpaid dividends on such Series A Stock based on a conversion price (after giving effect to certain potential anti-dilution adjustments) of $2.64 per share; (iii) 2,592,195 shares of common stock are issuable to certain of the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus that are party to either the June SPA or the September SPA upon the conversion of $4,713,077.39 aggregate principal amount of our secured convertible 10% original issue discount promissory notes (the “Investor Notes”), plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon, based upon a floor conversion price of $2.00 per share; (iv) 198,751 shares of common stock are issuable to our Sponsor upon the conversion of an unsecured convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $795,003 (the “Convertible Sponsor Note”); (v) 1,968,750 shares of common stock are founder shares that are held by our Sponsor;

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THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?