U.S. Judge Rejects Bid By Omega’s Cooperman To Dismiss Insider Trading Charges Mar 20 2017 | 11:20pm ET A bid by Omega Advisors CEO Leon Cooperman to dismiss insider trading charges by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission were rejected by a federal judge on Monday. Without ruling on the merits of the case, U.S. District Court Judge Juan Sanchez determined that the SEC presented a “plausible claim” in pleadings before him and allowed the case to proceed, potentially setting up a trial for later this year. Cooperman, a billionaire and one of the most successful hedge fund managers in the industry, received a Wells notice from the SEC in March 2016 and insider trading charges against him and Omega subsequently followed in late September. The allegations, which Cooperman has strenuously denied, revolve around Omega’s 2010 investments in Atlas Pipeline Partners in which profits of more than $4 million were allegedly earned based on information received from an Atlas executive. In rejecting the dismissal request, Judge Sanchez wrote that the SEC had successfully argued the “who, what, when, where, and how” of the alleged misconduct such that a “plausible misappropriation” of inside information could have taken place, according to a Reuters report. No specifics were immediately available about when the matter might go to trial. The case has already damaged Omega, whose AUM has fallen from as much as $5.2 billion at the start of 2016 to $3.4 billion in January of this year. Cooperman, a former partner at Goldman Sachs and the son of a Bronx plumber, was one of the few large hedge fund managers to publicly recommend investors “hang tough” in January 2016 as stocks embarked on their worst annual start in recent memory. A pervasive bear market in stocks, he said at the time, was unlikely – just a few months before the U.S. stock market began its recent record-setting ascent. The case is SEC v Cooperman et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 16-05043. from FINALTERNATIVES
Omega's Cooperman Seeks Appeal That Could End SEC Insider Trading Case Apr 5 2017 | 5:55pm ET By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - The billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman has asked a federal judge for permission to immediately appeal a ruling that, if overturned, could spell the end of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's insider trading case against him. Cooperman and his firm Omega Advisors are seeking to reverse a March 20 ruling that let the SEC pursue civil claims that Cooperman and Omega reaped about $4.09 million of profit in 2010 by trading in Atlas Pipeline Partners LP based on confidential tips from an Atlas executive about a planned asset sale. The SEC did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment. Cooperman, 73, has argued that the case should be dismissed because the SEC could not show he had agreed not to make trades before receiving confidential information. But in the March 20 ruling, U.S. District Judge Juan Sanchez in Philadelphia said the SEC could pursue claims that Cooperman "misappropriated" information despite the apparent absence of a prior agreement not to trade. In a Tuesday filing, Cooperman's lawyers called that theory "aggressive and untested," saying no insider trading case had ever been premised on a post-disclosure agreement - here, an oral agreement by Cooperman - to keep information confidential. The lawyers asked Sanchez to certify an appeal of his ruling to the federal appeals court in Philadelphia, saying a decision in Cooperman's favor would result in a dismissal and avoid a scheduled Nov. 6 trial. They also said the fraud charge, "even if ultimately not proven at trial, has caused and will continue to cause serious harm to Mr. Cooperman's reputation and Omega's business." Omega said its assets under management have fallen to about $3.6 billion as of March 31, from about $5.4 billion when the SEC sued in September. In a Monday court filing, Cooperman and Omega said they "deny that they engaged in any wrongful, illegal or improper conduct, and aver that each of them is innocent." Cooperman maintained in a Wednesday interview on CNBC television that the SEC case was "without merit." Along with Galleon Group's Raj Rajaratnam and Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors LP, Cooperman is one of the most prominent recent targets of U.S. insider trading probes. He is worth $3 billion, according to Forbes magazine. The case is SEC v Cooperman et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 16-05043. from FINALTERNATIVES