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Article: “Naked” ban deals further blow to CDS

Article - Media, Publications

“Naked” ban deals further blow to CDS

Christopher Whittall, 04 April 2012

A ban on “naked” sovereign credit defaults swaps trading will be stricter and more far-reaching than market participants had previously thought and could severely damage market liquidity, analysts have warned.

The European Union recently published the final version of new regulation prohibiting participants from using CDS to take outright short positions in sovereigns. The regulation developed in the aftermath of various European politicians blaming sovereign CDS for peripheral bond yields widening during the euro zone crisis, despite a lack of empirical evidence to support these claims.

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Article: Puzzle Pieces Falling Into Place

Article - Media, Publications

Puzzle Pieces Falling Into Place

KEVIN D. FREEMAN, 28 March 2012

It appears that the Copper River Hedge Fund was shorting the market during the fall of 2008. By all accounts, that would be viewed as a profitable market position. And, in hindsight, the stocks sold short did ultimately collapse as the Hedge Fund had expected. However, Copper River did not profit from the declines. Continue reading “Article: Puzzle Pieces Falling Into Place”

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Article: Anger at Goldman Still Simmers

Article - Media

Anger at Goldman Still Simmers

Gretchen Morgenson

New York Times cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 26 March 2012

Just before the financial crisis began in September 2008, a prominent hedge fund appeared well positioned to take advantage of any turmoil in the markets. That fund, Copper River Partners, had made sizable bets months earlier against companies whose stocks it expected to suffer.

Within weeks, however, Copper River, once a successful $1.5 billion hedge fund, was out of business, having unexpectedly absorbed losses on the very bets it thought would be profitable.

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Article: The rise of the Red Mafia in China: A case study of organised crime and corruption in Chongqing

Article - Media, Publications

The rise of the Red Mafia in China: A case study of organised crime and corruption in Chongqing

eng Wang, 20 March 2012

‘Red Mafia’ is the collective term for corrupt public officials in mainland China, mainly from the criminal justice system, who attempt to monopolise the protection business in the criminal underworld by abusing power. In contemporary mainland China, the Red Mafia has developed into an alternative system of governance that can control organised crime groups, enable them to flourish, and protect them where strong government and effective self-protection associations are absent. Continue reading “Article: The rise of the Red Mafia in China: A case study of organised crime and corruption in Chongqing”

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Article: Short selling and fraud: The case of Silvercorp Metals

Article - Media, Publications

Short selling and fraud: The case of Silvercorp Metals

Michael McCullough, 13 March 2012

The letter arrived at the Vancouver office of Ernst & Young on Aug. 31 in an envelope bearing $6 in U.S. postage. There was no return address and instead of salutations, it began with a headline: “Potential $1.3 billion accounting fraud at Silvercorp.”

Rui Feng, the founder and chair of Vancouver-based Silvercorp Metals Inc., was in Beijing at the time. He heard about the letter over the phone from Bob Gayton, head of the audit committee, who’d been alerted by Ernst & Young, auditor to the mining company, which at the time had a $1.5-billion market value, thanks to its two operating lead-zinc-silver mines in China and undeveloped properties in China and B.C. But Feng had an inkling something like this was coming.
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Article: The impact of naked short selling on the securities lending and equity market

Article - Academic

The impact of naked short selling on the securities lending and equity market

Steven Lecce, Andrew Lepone, Michael D. McKenzie, Reuben Segara

Journal of Financial Markets, 1 February 2012

This paper examines the impact of naked short selling on equity markets where it is restricted to securities on an approved list. Consistent with Miller’s (1977) intuition, stocks with the highest dispersion of opinions and short sale constraints are the only stocks to exhibit significant and negative abnormal returns in the post-event period. We also find slightly higher stock return volatility and a small reduction in liquidity when naked short sales are allowed. Overall, it impairs market quality (liquidity and volatility), although there appears to be some improvement in price efficiency in stocks with high short sale constraints.

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Article: Hydrogenics Awarded Contract by Us Hybrid Corporation Todeliver Five Hypm(Tm)Hd Series Power Modules for Heavyduty Mobility.

Article - Media, Publications

Hydrogenics Awarded Contract by Us Hybrid Corporation Todeliver Five Hypm(Tm)Hd Series Power Modules for Heavyduty Mobility.

GlobeNewswire , 27 January 2012

Hydrogenics Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products, today announced that the Company has received orders, for the delivery of five new generation HyPM(TM)HD Series Fuel Cell Power Modules from US Hybrid of Torrance, California. US Hybrid specializes in the design and manufacture of power conversion systems for medium and heavy duty electric, hybrid and fuel cell commercial buses and trucks. The power modules will be used in a dump truck, a step van and several buses. The vehicles are part of a government funded program managed by the High Technology Development Corporation’s Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies and will be deployed for a variety of end users in Hawaii. Continue reading “Article: Hydrogenics Awarded Contract by Us Hybrid Corporation Todeliver Five Hypm(Tm)Hd Series Power Modules for Heavyduty Mobility.”

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Article: Credit Suisse Fined $1.75M for Short-Selling System Failures

Article - Media, Publications

Credit Suisse Fined $1.75M for Short-Selling System Failures

Financial Planning, 28 December 2011

Credit Suisse Securities has been fined $1.75 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for failing to properly supervise short-selling activity.

From June 1, 2006 through December 2010, Credit Suisse Securities failed to comply with the locate and marking requirements of Regulation SHO as well as FINRA rules, NASD rules and federal securities laws, according to FINRA.

Specifically, FINRA fined Credit Suisse for Reg SHO violations and for failing to properly supervise short sales and the marking of sale orders. As a result, the financial services firm entered millions of short sales without reasonable grounds to believe that the securities could be borrowed and delivered and mismarked thousands of sales orders, FINRA charges. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse Fined $1.75M for Short-Selling System Failures”

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Article: Credit Suisse Fined $1.75 Million for Breaking ‘Naked’ Short-Selling Rules

Article - Media, Publications

Credit Suisse Fined $1.75 Million for Breaking ‘Naked’ Short-Selling Rules

Eleazar David Meléndez, 27 December 2011

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said Monday it was fining the American brokerage unit of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse $1.75 million for violating rules regarding the controversial market-making practice known as “naked” short-selling.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC was being fined for violating Regulation SHO, a rule enacted in early 2005 by the Securities Exchange Commission to target prevent market participants from abusing short-selling, according to a statement from the regulatory group,

In a short sale, a market maker sells a security it does not own, later borrowing the instrument from a third-party in order to make good on its transaction. If the price of that security goes down, the short-seller can later buy it back in the open market, returning it to the party from which it borrowed in the first place, and pocketing the difference in prices as profit. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse Fined $1.75 Million for Breaking ‘Naked’ Short-Selling Rules”

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Article: Credit Suisse Rapped for U.S. Lapses

Article - Media, Publications

Credit Suisse Rapped for U.S. Lapses

finews asia, 24 December 2011

Credit Suisse was hit with a $6.5 million fine for doing too little to prevent potential market manipulation by U.S. clients.

The Swiss bank was slammed by U.S. industry officials for and fined $6.5 million for failing to keep an eye on major U.S. institutional clients, Finra, or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said in a statement. Credit Suisse said it is «pleased to have resolved these matters with FINRA and these exchanges,» according to a brokerage industry publication

Specifically, the Zurich-based lender granted clients – brokers and other institutional-sized clients – direct access to exchanges without proper oversight. Credit Suisse won more than $300 million in revenue from trading more than 300 billion securities – a move that sparked more than 50,000 alerts at Finra, which is a U.S. broker self-regulatory body. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse Rapped for U.S. Lapses”

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Filing: FINRA v Credit Suisse

Filing

FINRA v Credit Suisse

13 December 2011

Pursuant to FINRA Rule 9216 of FINRA’s Code of Procedure, the Respondent submits this Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) for the purpose of proposing a settlement of the alleged rule violations described below. This AWC is submitted on the condition that, if accepted, FINRA will not bring any future actions against the Respondent alleging violations based on the same factual findings described herein.

PDF (22 pages): FINRA v Credit Suisse

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Article: SEC backs investors’ claim Merrill rigged ARS market, lawyer says

Article - Media, Publications

SEC backs investors’ claim Merrill rigged ARS market, lawyer says

jgoff, 08 December 2011

Auction-rate securities holders seeking to win back part of the $330 billion they’ve invested, may get help from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission legal brief supporting claims that Merrill Lynch & Co. rigged the moribund market, a lawyer involved in the case said. Continue reading “Article: SEC backs investors’ claim Merrill rigged ARS market, lawyer says”

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Article: Merrill Lynch fined for violating cotton-speculation limits

Article - Media

Merrill Lynch fined for violating cotton-speculation limits

Kevin G. Hall

McClatchy Newspapers, 7 December  2011

A key financial regulator said Wednesday that it had fined Wall Street powerhouse Merrill Lynch $350,000 for violating rules that limit how many speculative contracts it can hold in markets where bets are made on the price of cotton for future delivery.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc., a subsidiary of Bank of America, repeatedly had violated limits on how many Cotton No. 2 futures contracts it was allowed to hold. Futures are bets on where the price of a given commodity will be for future delivery.

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Filing: SEC v Citigroup

Filing

SEC v Citigroup

28 November 2011

On October 19, 2011, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “S.E.C.”) filed this lawsuit, accusing defendant Citigroup
Global Markets Inc. (“Citigroup”) of a substantial securities fraud.
According to the S.E.C.’s Complaint, after Citigroup realized in
early 2007 that the market for mortgage-backed securities was
beginning to weaken, Citigroup created a billion-dollar Fund (known
as “Class V Funding III”) that allowed it to dump some dubious assets
on misinformed investors.

PDF (15 pages): SEC v Citigroup