In a press release, the SEC said Puneet Dikshit, a partner at McKinsey, was trading illegally in advance of a corporate acquisition by one of the firm’s clients in September.
Tag Archive for insider trading
Hot Business News Today
SEC Files To Drop Insider-Trading Case On Herbalife
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
The Wall Street Journal just reported:
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday filed to dismiss insider-trading charges against a man accused of profiting from privileged information tied to Herbalife Ltd.
The SEC had charged Jordan Peixoto, of Toronto, of buying Herbalife options after hearing William Ackman ’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP was planning to make a negative public presentation about the nutritional supplements maker. Mr. Peixoto ultimately ? made $47,100 in profits.
The SEC said it is dismissing the charges because the two men who developed the information and passed it on to Mr. Peixoto aren’t available to testify at the trial, which had been set for March.
According to the agency, Mr. Peixoto was tipped off about Mr. Ackman’s planned comments by Filip Szymik, who learned the information from his roommate and longtime friend Mariusz Adamski, then an analyst with Mr. Ackman’s Pershing Square.
The two men, who were roommates in New York City at the time of the event, have since returned to their native Poland and have indicated they intend to assert their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if compelled to testify.
Herbalife’s stock dropped 39% in the days following Mr. Ackman’s announcement.
Mr. Szymik, who didn’t trade in Herbalife securities, agreed to a $47,100 civil penalty
Hot Business News Today
SEC Sends Accusations Of Herbalife Insider Trading
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
The hedge fund world occasionally crosses a legal line when gleaning information from corporate insiders. Now, a federal investigation into Herbalife and the traders who traffic in the company’s stock reveals that hedge funds themselves produce insider secrets.
Stretching the boundaries of insider trading law, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused two men of possessing confidential information about a hedge fund’s plan to bet against Herbalife. One of the men, Filip Szymik, settled the case; his friend and co-defendant, Jordan Peixoto, did not.
Mr. Szymik’s problems, first detailed in a New York Times article in May, began when he learned that the billionaire William A. Ackman was planning to announce a bearish view of Herbalife, a giant diet supplements company. Mr. Szymik had an unlikely source: his roommate was a junior employee at Mr. Ackman’s hedge fund. The roommate, who did not himself trade in Herbalife, is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The S.E.C. pursued Mr. Szymik, a 29-year-old former collegiate tennis star, even though he did not trade either. Instead, according to the S.E.C., Mr. Szymik shared the insight with another friend, Mr. Peixoto, who placed his own wager against Herbalife. When Mr. Ackman announced a $1 billion bet against Herbalife, a move
Hot Business News Today
Herbalife Executives Buy $1.7 Million In Shares
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Insiders at Herbalife threw their hats into the ring of the media circus surrounding the multi-level marketing firm.
Three Herbalife top executives bought 30,700 shares for $1,709,467, an average of $55.68 each, on July 31.
Chief Financial Officer John DeSimone bought 10,000 Herbalife (ticker: HLF ) shares for $555,600. He now holds a direct stake of 28,690 shares. DeSimone’s most recent previous transaction was on April 16, 2012, when he exercised options and sold 31,700 shares for $2.7 million, an average of $70.50 each, through a 10b5-1 plan.
Chief Operating Officer Richard Goudis bought 10,700 shares for $597,167. He now holds a direct stake of 166,969 shares. Goudis’ most recent previous transaction was on Nov. 29, 2012, when he bought 180,100 shares for $2 million, an average of $43.89 each.
Finally, President Desmond Walsh bought 10,000 shares for $556,700. He now holds a direct stake of 107,599 shares. Walsh’s most recent previous transaction was on April 3, 2012, when he exercised options and sold 125,500 shares for $5 million, an average of $69.44 each through a 10b5-1 plan.
All the executives hold stakes of less than 1% in Herbalife.
Walsh and Goudis joined Herbalife in 2004. DeSimone joined in 2007.
Herbalife did not respond to a phone call seeking