Executing Insider Trades In An Account Set Up Under Baby Mama's Name Not The Fool-Proof Plan Ex-Evercore Director Thought It'd Be
From 2010 to 2014, when he was working in Evercore's mining and metals group, Frank Perkins Hixon Jr. occasionally found himself on the receiving end of material non-public information. Sometimes it was about forthcoming acquisitions. Sometimes it was about his own company's earnings. In both cases, FPH Jr. knew he could sweeten things for himself by trading on the 411. Naturally, he didn't want to get fired from Evercore for securities fraud, as it would put a damper on his ability to obtain inside info, so he couldn't be too obvious. Placing the trades in an account under his own name was obviously out. Same went for anyone with whom he shared a last name, like his mom or dad. And that's when the lightbulb went off:
Before the acquisition was announced in November 2012, Mr. Hixon bought 40,000 shares of Titanium in his ex-girlfriend's account, with whom he had a child, according to the complaint, and directed his relative* to purchase 15,000 shares. The shares were sold immediately after the announcement, according to the complaint, turning the $250,000 profit. Neither the ex-girlfriend nor the relative are named in the complaint. In another alleged insider-trading scheme, Mr. Hixon used confidential information about Evercore's fourth-quarter earnings in 2012 to purchase 42,000 shares of the company in the two accounts, ultimately netting more than $96,000 in profits, the complaint said...
A spokesman for Evercore said in a statement that the company uncovered the links between Mr. Hixon and the account holders last year in response to routine requests by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulatory body, and subsequently fired Mr. Hixon.
Remember this.
Former Evercore Director Charged With Insider Trading [WSJ]
*Cousin on mom's side?
