Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
A notorious short-seller has come out swinging against a popular marijuana stock (CRON)
Business Insider, 30 August 2018
Citron Research — a short-selling firm with a history of wiping out stock prices and run by Andrew Left — has a new target: cannabis stocks.
In a report published Thursday, the firm says Cronos, one of the most valuable publicly traded marijuana companies, is worth roughly one-third of its current price: $3.50 per share.
Cronos CEO ‘confident’ about company’s disclosures amid Citron report
David George-Cosh, 30 August 2018
Cronos Group Inc. (CRON.TO) chief executive Mike Gorenstein said he is “very confident” in the Toronto-based cannabis producer’s disclosures after a short seller released a report alleging that it was “deceiving” investors.
U.S.-based Citron Research published a report Thursday that advised investors to exercise caution in the growing Canadian cannabis space, highlighting Cronos with a price target of just $3.50 a share. The report sent Cronos shares down nearly 27 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange, triggering a stock circuit breaker and briefly halted trading in the company’s shares. When shares resumed trading, Cronos fell as much as 29 per cent before paring earlier losses. Despite the dramatic drop, the shares are still higher than they were just a week earlier.
Continue reading “Article: Cronos CEO ‘confident’ about company’s disclosures amid Citron report”
Marijuana Stocks Fall As Short Seller Says Pot Play Is ‘All Talk’
BILL PETERS, 30 August 2018
Marijuana stocks retreated Thursday after short seller Citron Research alleged that Canadian cannabis producer Cronos Group (CRON) was “all talk” and was omitting key details about the size of its distribution agreements. The company, Citron Research alleged in a report Thursday, “appears to have been deceiving the investing public by purposely not disclosing the size of its distribution agreements with provinces — unlike every other major cannabis player.”
“Our sources have informed us that it’s because the agreements are so small they could never justify the premium investors are paying for the stock,” Citron Research said. Cronos said it could not comment on the report. The company said its advisers had done “all the necessary due diligence under both US and Canadian securities law.” In arguing its case, Citron cited an Aug. 21 news release from Cronos that announced provincial supply agreements across Canada, without any details about how big those deals were.
Continue reading “Article: Marijuana Stocks Fall As Short Seller Says Pot Play Is ‘All Talk’”
Cronos: The Dark Side of The Cannabis Space Target Price- $3.50
Citron Research, 30 August 2018
Citron has a hot hand in cannabis lately. First Aurora ($ACB) and then in the last two weeks our trading calls played out to 70% returns. One long and one short (respectively: $TLRY and $CVSI). Citron would like to inform investors of caution on the ongoing and real green rush. Although the hype is big and the prohibition after 100 years is real, it is critical to understand that in the Canadian landscape, there are over 100 licensed producers and there will ultimately be more losers than winners.
While Canadian growers get ready for October 17 and the new age of recreational marijuana usage in Canada, Citron believes that there are a few truths that need to come to light with regards to Cronos. Cronos management appears to have been deceiving the investing public by purposely not disclosing the size of its distribution agreements with provinces – unlike every other major cannabis player
Continue reading “Article: Cronos: The Dark Side of The Cannabis Space Target Price- $3.50”
Interactive Brokers Unit Faces Fine for Naked Short Selling
Nasdaq.com, 21 August 2018
A unit of Interactive Brokers Group , Interactive Brokers LLC, has been charged with violations of Regulation SHO and lack of proper supervisory measures. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has imposed a penalty of $5.5 million on the company.
FINRA fines Interactive Brokers $5.5 million for short selling violations
Reuters Staff, 21 August 2018
(Reuters) – The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined a unit of Interactive Brokers Group Inc IBKR.O $5.5 million for violating several naked short selling rules over a period of at least three years.
The unit, Interactive Brokers LLC’s, supervisory system, including its written supervisory procedures, was not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the federal requirements from July 2012 through June 2015, said FINRA.
FINRA, Wall Street’s self-regulator, also said the company repeatedly ignored “red flags,” including internal audit findings and multiple internal warnings from its staff.
The regulator said Interactive neither admitted nor denied the charges while settling the matter.
Interactive Brokers was not immediately available for comment.
South Korea exchange ups scrutiny of Merrill Lynch trading
Song Jung-a, Emma Dunkley
Financial Times, 21 August 2018
South Korea’s stock exchange has stepped up its monitoring of high-frequency trading by the Seoul branch of Bank of America Merrill Lynch after local investors complained about alleged unfair stock trades by the US brokerage.
The scrutiny comes after individual local investors filed petitions to the presidential office, saying they suffered huge losses due to large, high-frequency trades and bets against South Korean stocks through the brokerage since last year.
Interactive Brokers Fined $5.5 Million for Naked Short Selling Violations
Alexander Osipovich
The Wall Street Journal, 20 August 2018
A unit of Interactive Brokers Group Inc., one of the largest U.S. retail brokerages, has been fined $5.5 million over allegations that it broke federal rules on the “naked” short selling of stocks thousands of times over a three-year period.
TILRAY: NEXT IN LINE IN A BUDDING CANNABIS INDUSTRY
Citron Research, 15 August 2018
On Jan 3, 2018, Citron predicted that Aurora Cannabis would fall from the then $14 to $6.50. It currently trades at $6.19.
Today we state that you would have to be ‘high’ to short any of the marijuana names based on the recent investment by Constellation in to Canopy Growth, the largest investment in the space ($4bn).The premium paid to market shows confidence by Constellation that could rattle any short seller.
The opportunity now lies in finding the next company to get a white knight at a premium to market and to Citron that answer is easy- Tilray.
Citron believes that Tilray is best in class and if it were to get the same multiple we are assigning to Canopy, the stock would be trading at $45 a share.
Continue reading “Article: TILRAY: NEXT IN LINE IN A BUDDING CANNABIS INDUSTRY”
Tatar activist detained in Kazan, questioned in financial fraud probe
RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service, 15 August 2018
A Tatar activist says he has been detained for questioning by Russian police as part of an investigation into suspected financial fraud.
Nail Nabiullin told RFE/RL by telephone that he was detained on August 15 in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region, and brought to a police station.
There, Nabiullin said he was told that a person resembling him had taken out a loan of 30,800 rubles ($460) in 2017 from a local bank and failed to pay it back.
Police officers showed Nabiullin a photo of the suspect, who the activist said did not look like him at all. Continue reading “Article: Tatar activist detained in Kazan, questioned in financial fraud probe”
Fraudsters using Shopify to scam people, and critics say the company isn’t doing enough to stop them
Gerrit De Vynck and Alistair Barr, 09 August 2018
Shopify’s fight against fake users echoes similar battles being waged at Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And like those companies, Shopify is contending with the same conundrum: Is a so-called platform company responsible for the behaviour of those who use it? Shopify must police users without limiting its ability to make fistfuls of cash from them.
“We can ensure that there are fewer bad actors on our platform every single day,” says Shopify Chief Operating Officer Harley Finkelstein. “Do some sneak in from time to time? It could happen, just like it could happen on any platform.”
Continue reading “Article: Fraudsters using Shopify to scam people, and critics say the company isn’t doing enough to stop them”
Credit Suisse charged with rigging foreign exchange rates
Reuters Staff, 01 August 2018
Credit Suisse has been charged by European Union antitrust regulators with rigging foreign exchange rates, the Swiss bank said on Tuesday, a sign that the five-year long EU investigation may reach a conclusion in the coming months.
Credit Suisse said in its quarterly report it received notification from the European Commission on July 26 alleging that it “engaged in anticompetitive practices in connection with its foreign exchange trading business”. EU enforcers typically lay out charges of illegal activities conducted by companies before imposing fines which can reach 10 percent of their global turnover. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse charged with rigging foreign exchange rates”
EU Regulators Charge Credit Suisse with Rigging FX Markets
Celeste Skinner, 01 August 2018
Credit Suisse Group AG announced on Tuesday that it has been charged by European Union antitrust regulators with manipulating forex rates. The charges signal the five-year-long investigation might be coming to a close in the near future.
In a regulatory filing, the allegations state that Credit Suisse “engaged in anti-competitive practices in connection with its foreign exchange trading business.” Now, the Wall Street bank will need to wait and see if the EU regulators will impose a fine, which could be up to 10% of its global turnover. Continue reading “Article: EU Regulators Charge Credit Suisse with Rigging FX Markets”
Why Rewalk Robotics (RWLK) Stock Is Skyrocketing Today
Karl Utermohlen, 20 July 2018
Rewalk Robotics (NASDAQ:RWLK) had a good day as the company’s stock was skyrocketing following a revision to the company’s national policies from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
The Israel-based company said that the aforementioned agency issued a revision to the company’s national policy regarding its exoskeleton medical device training and procurement for qualifying Veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI). The new policy includes additional guidance throughout the evaluation process of this treatment.
Plus, the announcement also means that more veterans will have access to Rewalk Robotics training program locations across the VA network, as well as expanded access to private rehabilitation centers through the company’s Veterans Choice Program
17 CFR § 242.204 – Close-out requirement.
Legal Information Institute, 19 July 2018
A participant of a registered clearing agency must deliver securities to a registered clearing agency for clearance and settlement on a long or short sale in any equity security by settlement date, or if a participant of a registered clearing agency has a fail to deliver position at a registered clearing agency in any equity security for a long or short sale transaction in that equity security, the participant shall, by no later than the beginning of regular trading hours on the settlement day following the settlement date, immediately close out its fail to deliver position by borrowing or purchasing securities of like kind and quantity; Provided, however: Continue reading “Article: 17 CFR § 242.204 – Close-out requirement.”
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
