Hedge fund managers settle for $2.4M

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by misctrader, May 19, 2005.

  1. Hedge fund managers settle for $2.4M
    Three managers accused of illegal short-selling agree to payment; don't admit or deny wrongdoing.
    May 19, 2005: 12:14 PM EDT

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three hedge fund managers have agreed to pay a total of $2.4 million to settle charges of illegal short-selling in nearly two dozen stock offerings, U.S. securities regulators said Thursday.

    The three -- Galleon Management LP, Oaktree Capital Management LLC and DB Investment Managers Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG -- settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

    An attorney representing Oaktree Capital could not immediately be reached for comment, an attorney for DB Investment did not have an immediate comment, and Galleon Management's attorney declined to comment.

    The SEC said the three managers violated an anti-manipulation rule that prohibits covering a short sale with securities obtained in a follow-on offering if the short sale was carried out within five business days before the pricing of the offering.

    Regulators say such short sales can play a major role in contributing to a decrease in a follow-on offering's share price, and can ultimately reduce an issuer's proceeds by millions of dollars.

    Galleon Management carried out such short-selling in 17 such offerings from 2000 through 2003, Oaktree was involved in four such offerings from September 2003 to March 2004, and DB Investment was involved in three offerings from January 2001 to May 2004, the SEC said.