Earlier this morning, the Journal reported that certain trades made by SAC Capital’s CR Intrinsic unit were being “examined” by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, the regulator was said to be “trying to determine whether SAC used inside information to profit from Johnson & Johnson’s 2009 takeover of Cougar Biotechnology Inc.” It was also reported that:
The civil inquiry also encompasses whether an “expert network” business that is part of an investment bank leaked nonpublic information to traders, people said…SAC also is facing a criminal probe by federal prosecutors in New York examining trades made in an account overseen by the fund’s billionaire founder, Steven A. Cohen, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter. Representatives for SAC, Mr. Cohen, Johnson & Johnson and Cougar declined to comment. SAC has said it is cooperating with the probe.
While the Journal noted that SAC has not been accused of any wrongdoing, nor was it clear if “the inquiries, which have been ongoing for more than a year, will result in any charges,” it also wrote that “SAC has said it is cooperating with the probe.” According to representatives for the hedge fund uh…what? Continue reading »
The individuals who will have their names mentioned at a noon press conference are hedge fund manager Samir Barai of Barai Capital, Barai Capital analyst Jason Pflaum, former CR Instrinsic (a division of SAC) manager Donald Longueuil (most recently with Empire Capital) and former SAC PM Noah Freeman. Continue reading »
Last January, analyst Jonathan Hollander’s name was mentioned as possibly having a connection to a Blackstone insider trading case, based on information presented to the government by his former employer, SAC Capital-owned CR Intrinsic. Not much has been heard about Hollander since then, but this morning Reuters‘ Matthew Goldstein reports that he’s actually in the super fun position of waiting to find out if federal authorities still have a problem with him.
One individual sitting on the prosecutorial bubble is former SAC Capital Advisors analyst Jonathan Hollander, who last worked for Steven Cohen’s $12 billion hedge fund in November 2008. Federal authorities have linked Hollander to several allegations of insider trading in both court filings and testimony at a recent criminal trial, but he has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Reuters has learned that prosecutors disclosed for the first time in August that they had taken at least two confidential statements from Hollander at some point over the previous 18 months.
Prosecutors disclosed the Hollander “proffer statements” in an August 25 letter to lawyers for former Jefferies Group Inc hedge fund manager Joseph Contorinis, who was convicted by a federal jury of insider trading in October.
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