[Original post Feb 2011, Updated and Reposted Feb. 2021] The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan has charged a hedge fund manager with insider trading. Donald Longueuil was charged with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud and obstruction of justice. The obstruction charge stems from Longueuil’s middle of the night efforts to destroy computer hard […]
Brit Established Cayman Fund AFTER US Court Arrest Warrant
[Originally posted in October 2010, now updated through 2021.] (Editors note: One of the best investigative journalists in the business is David Marchant. This story was first reported by David.) British citizen Sencer Sevket formed a mutual fund in the Cayman Islands after a U.S. federal court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges […]
Unauthorized Trading – A Serious Problem
by Brian Mahany No matter how many rules and regulations, securities fraud remains a big problem. Most cases involve unsuitable investment recommendations but unauthorized trades are a close second. An unauthorized trade occurs when a stockbroker or investment adviser purchases or sells a security in your account without your permission. Because investment advisers do not […]
SEC to Pay Whistleblowers In Insider Trading Case
by Brian Mahany Insider trading cases have been quite the buzz on Wall Street in recent years. Several well known traders and hedge fund managers have gone to prison after being caught using inside information to trade securities. When an “insider” has access to information ahead of the market, they have an advantage that allows […]
Zealous Legal Advocacy or Criminal Conspiracy?
[Post updated] A recent Reuters article sheds light on how Sir Allen Stanford was able to avoid detection and arrest for well over a decade. When finally arrested in 2009, Stanford was believed to have presided over one of the largest Ponzi schemes ever – $7 billion in misappropriated funds. Unlike the Madoff case where much […]
FINRA Notifies Brokers of "Heightened Supervision of Complex Products"
by Brian Mahany The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a formal notice to stockbrokers earlier this week. The notice (12-03) advises of “heightened supervision” of complex financial products and echoes what we have said for years; don’t buy something if your broker can’t explain or you don’t understand it! FINRA defines a complex product as […]
Unregistered Broker Caught… Again
by Brian Mahany The ink isn’t even dry on my last post about the SEC’s new initiative to ferret serial fraudsters and now a story from the Texas State Securities Board. Regulators in the lone star state say that William Byrne confessed to being an unregistered broker selling investments. Of course, the securities he was […]
SEC's New Approach to Enforcement
by Brian Mahany It’s easy to pick on the SEC… just think Madoff and all the times that the agency failed to heed warning signs and whistleblowers in that case. Since then, the SEC has rolled out a powerful whistleblower cash award program and has initiated dozens of new enforcement actions. While we still criticize […]
Judge to SEC – I’m Not Your Handmaiden
by Brian Mahany Anyone interested in knowing about whistleblowers and the law should visit whistlewatch.org. That is the website of Whistle Watch – the Brown Center for Public Policy organization, an IRS recognized nonprofit. The organization is a clearing house for current information about whistleblower actions, laws and protections for whistleblowers facing retaliation. In the […]
Madoff and the SEC – (How Much Has the SEC Learned? Plenty!)
Critics of the SEC have long complained about the way the SEC mishandled the Bernie Madoff affair. Missed opportunity is an understatement. Time and time again, whistle blowers warned of problems yet nothing was done. According to the Washington Post, now after several years several employees have been disciplined. Disciplined. Not fired. The SEC ultimately […]