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Article: China emerging as a global hub for money laundering operations

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China emerging as a global hub for money laundering operations

Vaishali Basu Sharma, 18 September 2020

The Income Tax Department conducted raids in the National Capital Region in August and found that some Chinese individuals, with fake Indian passports, were engaged in large scale money laundering operations. In July, China’s presidency of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) expired. With nearly one trillion dollars’ worth illicit financial outflows over a decade, China was hardly in a position to set the agenda for international anti-money laundering. Around the globe, multiple money-laundering operations reveal the systemic involvement of Chinese individuals and entities. In a sophisticated attempt to target competitive economies, the rich in China are channelling illicit cash through anonymous shell companies. They are engaging in wholesale money laundering, drug-smuggling, sanctions-busting, and market-distorting schemes. China has, in fact, emerged as the global hub for money laundering, not just for the Chinese but for criminals around the world. Continue reading “Article: China emerging as a global hub for money laundering operations”

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Article: Fines Imposed on Foreign Investors Engaged in Naked Short Selling

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Fines Imposed on Foreign Investors Engaged in Naked Short Selling

Yoon Young-sil, 18 September 2020

The Securities and Futures Commission has decided to impose a fine of 730 million won on four foreign asset management companies and pension funds that conducted naked short selling. The Korea Exchange detected the violation of the law prohibiting it during regular market monitoring.

Short selling is to sell a stock and then buy it back at a lower price. Stock borrowing must precede selling according to the current law on short selling.

According to the Financial Services Commission, the four organizations were wrong about whether they concluded stock borrowing contracts or were in possession of stocks and placed sell orders without owning or borrowing stocks. This occurred before the implementation of the temporary short selling ban in March this year.

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Article: The Mysterious London Traders Accused of Manipulating Oil Markets — and the Anonymous Hedge Fund, Rare-Coin Expert, and Day Traders Who Are Fighting Back

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The Mysterious London Traders Accused of Manipulating Oil Markets — and the Anonymous Hedge Fund, Rare-Coin Expert, and Day Traders Who Are Fighting Back

Leah McGrath Goodman, 17 September 2020

Robert Mish is not an oil trader. He’s a numismatist — an expert in rare coins, precious metals, and currencies. Growing up in Brooklyn, he began by collecting stamps and playing cards at the age of four. From there, he moved on to coins and, eventually, valuable antiquities, heading out to California to start his own business in Menlo Park, Mish International Monetary. He traveled the world attending coin shows and became an authority on commodities such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, writing and contributing to a number of books.

This year, two months after his 73rd birthday, Mish found himself trading U.S. crude oil futures at perhaps their most inopportune moment: On April 20, the price of oil fell to zero — and kept falling. Mish, an expert in commodities, was holding ten oil contracts as the market went over the edge.

After 50 years of inspecting currencies and stores of value from the Americas to Europe to Asia, Mish can also claim another expertise: He is an expert in counterfeit detection. That day, as he watched his oil trades go south, he picked up the phone and called one of the best market-manipulation lawyers in the country.

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Article: Gravity, Fraud, and Prostitutes?

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Gravity, Fraud, and Prostitutes?

Jimmy Mengel, 17 September 2020

That’s exactly what Hindenburg Research accused Nikola Motors (NASDAQ: NKLA) of in a scathing short report last week called Nikola: How to Parlay An Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America. The high-flying electric car company — which has seen 200% gains in the last six months — was called an “intricate fraud” and the once-skyrocketing stock came crashing back down to Earth: That’s a 32% drop in a week after rallying from the historic partnership with General Motors (NYSE: GM). The “Big Three” American automaker took an 11% stake in the company worth $200 billion in equity. It appeared as if the old guard had merged with the new one in an alliance to take on Elon Musk’s Tesla crown.
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Article: FCA bans trader for market manipulation

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FCA bans trader for market manipulation

Daniela Esnerova, 16 September 2020

The FCA has banned “experienced trader” and portfolio manager Corrado Abbattista from performing any functions in relation to regulated activity for market abuse.

The regulator has also imposed a fine of £100,000 on Abbattista, who is a partner and chief investment officer at Fenician Capital Management.

In its decision notice, the FCA said it considers that between 20 January and 15 May 2017, Abbattista repeatedly placed in the market large misleading orders for contract for differences, referenced to equities, which he did not intend to execute.

“At the same time, he placed smaller orders that he did intend to execute on the opposite side of the order book to the misleading orders,” the regulator wrote. Continue reading “Article: FCA bans trader for market manipulation”

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Article: UK watchdog plans to fine London trader for market manipulation

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UK watchdog plans to fine London trader for market manipulation

Reuters Staff, 16 September 2020

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Wednesday it would impose a 100,000-pound fine on a London trader for market abuse and prohibit him from performing any functions related to regulated activity.

Corrado Abbattista, partner and chief investment officer at Fenician Capital Management LLP, repeatedly placed “large misleading” orders for Contract for Differences (CFDs), referenced to equities, between Jan. 20 and May 15, 2017, which he did not intend to execute, the FCA said bit.ly/32yIuuk.

At the same time, he placed smaller orders that he did intend to execute on the opposite side of the order book to the misleading orders, the financial regulator added. Continue reading “Article: UK watchdog plans to fine London trader for market manipulation”

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Article: Russian ‘Bad Debts’ Banks Expand Fraud Suits Against Ex-Top Managers and Ex-Owners

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Russian ‘Bad Debts’ Banks Expand Fraud Suits Against Ex-Top Managers and Ex-Owners

Dispute Resolution, 14 September 2020

Russian state-controlled lenders The Bank of Non-Core Assets (Bad Debts), created on the basis of National Bank Trust PJSC, and the bank FC Otkritie continue expending anti-fraud litigations against their Ex-Top Managers and Ex-Owners.

Recently, the lawsuit was filed in the United States against the former founder of financial group Otkritie Holding, Vadim Belyaev. The statement of claim entered the electronic database of the court in the New York area of ​​Manhattan. Continue reading “Article: Russian ‘Bad Debts’ Banks Expand Fraud Suits Against Ex-Top Managers and Ex-Owners”

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Article: Who is Steve Cohen? The Connecticut billionaire buying the New York Mets is a lifelong fan, an avid art collector and was embroiled in an insider trading scandal

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Who is Steve Cohen? The Connecticut billionaire buying the New York Mets is a lifelong fan, an avid art collector and was embroiled in an insider trading scandal

The news that Connecticut billionaire Steve Cohen is purchasing a majority stake in the New York Mets has invigorated the team’s fans, who hope an owner with deep pockets can turn around the fortunes of a team that has made the playoffs just twice in the past decade.

Cohen would be the wealthiest owner across all the major sports leagues, but who is he? The 64-year-old hedge fund manager is chairman and CEO of Point72 Asset Management in Stamford and lives in Greenwich.

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Article: Northern Dynasty calls JCap report ‘fatuous, flimsy and self-serving’

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Northern Dynasty calls JCap report ‘fatuous, flimsy and self-serving’

MINING.COM Staff Writer, 11 September 2020

In a report titled Pretend and Extend – The No Return Deposit, New York-based JCap this week accused Northern Dynasty management of “gaslighting investors” over its giant Alaska copper and gold Pebble project and said the mine plan “is on its face absurd.”

“We believe Northern Dynasty has crafted a money-losing mining plan to achieve government approvals. Since management is bonused on lobbying success instead of for producing minerals, NAK has no reason to care that the new plan is irrational: we think it will lose money, leave investors with a stranded asset, and be canceled anyway if Joe Biden is elected,” JCap said in its report.
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Article: Shareholder Alert: Robbins LLP Announces Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK) is Being Sued for Misleading Shareholders

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Shareholder Alert: Robbins LLP Announces Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK) is Being Sued for Misleading Shareholders

Business Wire, 09 September 2020

Shareholder rights law firm Robbins LLP announces that a purchaser of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSE American: NAK) filed a class action complaint against the Company and its officers and directors for alleged violations of the Securities & Exchange Act of 1934 between December 21, 2017 and November 25, 2020. Northern Dynasty engages in the exploration of mineral properties in the U.S. Its principal mineral property is the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project comprising 2,402 mineral claims that covers approximately 417 square miles in southwest Alaska.
Continue reading “Article: Shareholder Alert: Robbins LLP Announces Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK) is Being Sued for Misleading Shareholders”

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Article: Work from Home Gets Entrenched: Embraced by Workers & Businesses in the UK, it’s Upending Real Estate, Retail, Restaurants, Bars, Cafés

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Work from Home Gets Entrenched: Embraced by Workers & Businesses in the UK, it’s Upending Real Estate, Retail, Restaurants, Bars, Cafés

Nick Corbishley, 03 September 2020

One of the UK’s largest outsourcing companies, Capita plc, which employs 45,000 people across the country, has just done what many other companies have been thinking and talking about doing since the virus crisis began: it announced that it is permanently closing more than a third of its offices. As a result, the leases on almost 100 workplaces will be terminated.

Like many large outsourcing companies in the UK, Capita has been struggling for years. It did not collapse and get liquidated like erstwhile giant Carillion but its share price has collapsed 97% since 2015. Even before the virus crisis began, the firm was exploring ways of slashing costs, including embracing more flexible working practices such as work from home, which the lockdown pushed to the fore. The company says that employees are firmly on board with the changes. Continue reading “Article: Work from Home Gets Entrenched: Embraced by Workers & Businesses in the UK, it’s Upending Real Estate, Retail, Restaurants, Bars, Cafés”

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Article: Do Not Consider Workhorse Group if Profits Are Your Thing

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Do Not Consider Workhorse Group if Profits Are Your Thing

Will Ashworth, 02 September 2020

Things are happening on the electric vehicle front and even though Workhorse appears to be a long way from profitability, I can think of plenty of other money-losing businesses people are plowing their hard-earned capital into that don’t have nearly as much potential. If profits are your thing, Workhorse is not your kind of stock. I happen to believe it’s an excellent speculative buy for aggressive investors. Profits be damned.
Continue reading “Article: Do Not Consider Workhorse Group if Profits Are Your Thing”

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Article: Controversial hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen takes on Hollywood

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Controversial hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen takes on Hollywood

Billionaire hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen is known for owning one of the best private art collections in the world and for his many multimillion-dollar homes. However, he is perhaps best known for having been the subject of one of the government’s most high-profile insider trading investigations.

In 2013 Cohen’s once-powerful firm, SAC Capital Advisors, pleaded guilty to a criminal indictment and paid a record $1.8-billion settlement.

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Article: €22Bn Hedge Fund H2O, Majority-Owned by Natixis, Ordered to Freeze Funds. Fishy Smells Emanate

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€22Bn Hedge Fund H2O, Majority-Owned by Natixis, Ordered to Freeze Funds. Fishy Smells Emanate

Nick Corbishley, 31 August 2020

H2O Asset Management — a UK-based hedge fund, majority-owned by French investment bank Natixis — just gated a series of its funds due to illiquidity of its holdings. On Friday evening, France’s chief market regulator, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), instructed the firm to close three of its funds due to “valuation uncertainties” resulting from their exposure to unlisted securities linked to the controversial German financier Lars Windhorst.

Besides the three funds indicated by AMF, H2O closed another five funds containing holdings of similarly illiquid assets, with the result that roughly half of the asset management firm’s entire portfolio of assets — €21.7 billion, according to the company’s website — is now under wraps. Trapped investors cannot access their funds, and will be unable to do so for at least the next four weeks, during which time the company will try to sell off the illiquid assets. Continue reading “Article: €22Bn Hedge Fund H2O, Majority-Owned by Natixis, Ordered to Freeze Funds. Fishy Smells Emanate”

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Article: Small Landlords, Tenants, Lenders, Governments Grapple with “Extend-and-Pretend Forevermore”

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Small Landlords, Tenants, Lenders, Governments Grapple with “Extend-and-Pretend Forevermore”

Nick Corbishley, 26 August 2020

The British public was recently treated to an exemplary example of what Wolf Street likes to call “extend and pretend forevermore.” At the end of last week, the UK government extended its ban on tenant evictions by four extra weeks. First launched in late March, the ban was supposed to last three months, but it was extended by an additional two months in June. Now, it’s been extended til late September.

In other words, tenants will have been safe from legal eviction for six months so far this year. The government also lengthened the minimum period of notice a landlord has to give before evicting a tenant from two months to six months. Continue reading “Article: Small Landlords, Tenants, Lenders, Governments Grapple with “Extend-and-Pretend Forevermore””