Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Credit Suisse fined $135 million over unfair forex practices
Manaya Bagga, 14 November 2017
Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $135 million to resolve a probe of misconduct in its foreign exchange business. New York’s banking regulator Department of Financial Services (DFS) said Credit Suisse improperly shared information to manipulate currency prices and benchmark rates, and deceived customers to enhance its profits. The bank engaged in “unsound conduct” from 2008 to 2015, DFS added.
Credit Suisse Pays $135 Million to Settle New York FX Probe
Greg Farrell, 13 November 2017
Credit Suisse AG will pay $135 million to resolve currency-manipulation allegations by New York’s banking regulator, the latest echo from authorities’ long-running scrutiny of foreign-currency trading at big banks.
Traders at the Zurich-based bank, prodded by executives in some cases, shared information about clients’ currency orders, talked to traders from other banks and in some instances front-ran customer orders in an effort to boost the bank’s own profits, New York’s Department of Financial Services said as it announced a settlement on Monday.
Callidus Capital files suit over ‘wave of short attacks’ against firm
Christina Pellegrini
The Globe and Mail, 8 November 2017
Callidus Capital Corp. has filed a lawsuit against a group of investors and borrowers in Canada and the United States for allegedly working in concert to drive down the price of the distressed-debt lender’s shares.
The Toronto-based company filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in an Ontario court. It is suing a group of investment firms – which it calls the “wolfpack conspirators” – that includes private-equity firm West Face Capital Inc., hedge fund Anson Group and several companies related to it, and ClaritySpring Inc.
Barbara Shecter
Financial Post, 8 November 2017
Catalyst Capital Group Inc. has launched a lawsuit against Anson Group Canada, a privately held asset manager with operations in Canada and Texas, and Toronto-based private equity firm West Face Capital Inc., accusing them of participating in a “manipulative ‘short and distort’ campaign.”
The alleged target was publicly traded Catalyst subsidiary Callidus Capital Corp., claims the lawsuit, which dubs the Anson, West Face and several associated and unrelated individuals as “Wolfpack Conspirators.”
The Curious Career of Steven Cohen
Robert Abbott, 07 November 2017
Few investment gurus have as controversial a record as Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio). He has won acclaim for outstanding returns over the long term, he’s been cursed for the way he does business by other Wall Streeters and he was at the center of an insider trading scandal, one that saw several of his traders convicted. Continue reading “Article: The Curious Career of Steven Cohen”
Emergent Law, 31 October 2017
Wins Finance Holdings Inc. (“Wins”), a company that guarantees loans and leases equipment for small businesses in China, has been the target of multiple securities class action lawsuits ever since the news broke in March of this year that it was under investigation by the SEC for market manipulation of its stock. Incredibly, the stock price of Wins soared over 4,000% since the inception of trading near the end of 2015, with no company news headlines to explain this market bubble. On March 30, 2017, the investment analytics site Seeking Alpha reported the SEC investigation and the fact that Wins had mislead the Russell Index into including the company based upon a false report of the location of its headquarters.
On this news, the stock price plunged back to levels below $50 per share, only to be followed by another mysterious spike up to the $200 level in the early summer of this year. On June 7, 2017, NASDAQ announced that it was halting trade in Wins stock pending the receipt of further information from the company. On August 4, 2017, NASDAQ sent Wins a delisting determination letter, but withdrew this letter on October 19, 2017. The stock remains halted while NASDAQ awaits further information from Wins. Continue reading “Article: PURE MARKET MANIPULATION CLAIMS REMAIN OUT OF REACH FOR SOME SHAREHOLDERS VICTIMIZED BY MYSTERIOUS STOCK PRICE REVERSALS”
Millennium Settles Charges of Illegal Short Selling in Advance of Stock Offerings
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017-203
Washington D.C., Oct. 31, 2017 —
Investment advisory firm Millennium Management LLC has agreed to pay more than $630,000 to settle charges that it shorted U.S. stocks in companies planning follow-on offerings and then illegally bought shares in the follow-on offerings.
The Story of Steve Cohen and SAC Capital
RICHMAN CENTER NEWS, 30 October 2017
On October 30, 2017, the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy held a fireside chat with Sheelah Kolhatkar, author of Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street. In her book, Kolhatkar relives the challenges faced by federal prosecutors while investigating insider trading by SAC Capital, a hedge fund headed by Steve Cohen—a secretive, intense, and highly successful trader who made billions from short term investments and trading. Continue reading “Article: The Story of Steve Cohen and SAC Capital”
Sonam Sheth , 29 October 2017
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board called this week for a full Russia investigation — not into President Donald Trump’s campaign, but into the Democratic Party, the FBI, and the special counsel Robert Mueller. Continue reading “Article: WSJ editorial board calls for Mueller’s resignation and accuses Clinton campaign and DNC of collusion”
Marc Cohodes On The EIC Ponzi Scheme
ValueWalk, 15 October 2017
Farmer Marc Cohodes is one of the world’s most feared short sellers. Former General Partner of Rocker Partners/ Copper River from 1985 to 2009, Cohodes has made a name for himself by focusing on the details. He calls out companies where the numbers don’t add up, and he’s usually right. In the financial crisis, he hit the jackpot when he correctly called the demise of Lehman Brothers. After retiring in 2009, Cohodes has since returned to the markets, betting against Canadian mortgage lender Home Capital and Valeant Pharmaceuticals among others.
Continue reading “Article: Marc Cohodes On The EIC Ponzi Scheme”
BlackRock CEO: Bitcoin is an index of money laundering
ALI BRELAND, 13 October 2017
Larry Fink, CEO of the investment management company BlackRock, hammered bitcoin on Friday. “Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world,” Fink said at the Institute of International Finance on Friday. “It’s an index of money laundering. That’s all it is.” Continue reading “Article: BlackRock CEO: Bitcoin is an index of money laundering”
Counterfeiting Stock
Anna McParland
The Creation of Counterfeit Shares — There are a variety of names that the securities industry has dreamed up that are euphemisms for counterfeit shares. Don’t be fooled : Unless the short seller has actually borrowed a real share from the account of a long investor, the short sale is counterfeit. It doesn’t matter what you call it and it may become non–counterfeit if a share is later borrowed, but until then, there are more shares in the system than the company has sold.
The magnitude of the counterfeiting is hundreds of millions of shares every day, and it may be in the billions. The real answer is locked within the prime brokers and the DTC. Incidentally, counterfeiting of securities is as
It is estimated that 1000 small companies have been put out of business by the shorts.
PDF (12 Pages): Paper Counterfeiting Stock
Shopify stock drops $1.5B thanks to a lone blogger
Zachary Crockett, 06 October 2017
On Wednesday, investment site Citron Research published a scathing accusation that ecommerce platform Shopify — one of 2017’s best-performing tech stocks — is actually a “completely illegal get-rich-quick scheme.” According to Citron, Shopify’s method of recruiting (which involves marketing their service as a way for “partners” to easily make millions) flagrantly violates FTC rules. Shortly after the post and video were published, Shopify’s stock plummeted as much as 11.6%, chopping about $1.5B off the company’s market value.
Continue reading “Article: Shopify stock drops $1.5B thanks to a lone blogger”
Activist short-sellers are increasingly targeting Canadian companies — is Canada ready?
Barbara Shecter, 06 OCtober 2017
Early on the morning of May 31, San Francisco-based short-selling firm Muddy Waters LLC, best known in this country for the short report that toppled stock market darling Sino-Forest Corp. in 2011, posted a tantalizing message on the firm’s Twitter account.
“Good morning, Canada! MW is about to release a new short that we think is on its way to Zero,” the tweet read. Continue reading “Article: Activist short-sellers are increasingly targeting Canadian companies — is Canada ready?”
Short seller Andrew Left says he’s found a ‘business dirtier than Herbalife’
Joe Ciolli, 04 October 2017
Andrew Left is back at it again. The Citron Research founder tweeted on Wednesday that the Canadian e-commerce company Shopify was a “business dirtier than Herbalife.” He also posted a seven-minute YouTube video outlining his bear case, titled “Citron Exposes the Dark Side of Shopify — The FTC Will Take Notice,” and posted a report to his firm’s website.
In the video, Left lays out the big question he has around the company: Outside the roughly 50,000 verifiable merchants working with Shopify, who are the other 450,000 the company says it has? According to Left, many of them are, among other things, influencers paid to promote the company.
Continue reading “Article: Short seller Andrew Left says he’s found a ‘business dirtier than Herbalife’”
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
