SEC Officials Not Held Accountable for Mishandling Hedge Fund Insider Trading Case

New York (HedgeCo.Net) – SEC officials did not botch an investigation into alleged insider trading by hedge fund Pequot Capital Management, at least according to the SEC.

Brenda P. Murray, an administrative law judge for the Securities and Exchange Commission, concluded that no disciplinary action should be taken against two of the officials originally accused.

The 15-page report compiled by Murray goes against the original findings of both the SEC’s Inspector General H. David Kotz and Senate investigators who were put on the case. 

Last month, Kotz compiled his own report and recommended the agency take disciplinary action against Director of Enforcement Linda Thomsen, Assistant Director of Enforcement Mark Kreitman and Robert Hanson, Supervisor of SEC lawyer Gary Aguirre. 

Kotz said he found evidence that “raised serious questions about the impartiality and fairness” of the SEC investigation.  He went on to say how the SEC treated the hedge fund differently than other investigations and perhaps gave them special treatment. 

Murray’s findings were in stark opposition with Kotz’s, clearing both Thomsen and Hanson from any wrongdoing. 

“We were surprised and disappointed by the administrative judge’s decisions,” said Kotz.  “We also have serious concerns about the process utilized in arriving at these decisions.”

Other concerns that have come to the table draw on the fact that Murray was acting outside of her jurisdiction, along with the fact that there might be a conflict of interest considering she is in fact employed by the SEC.   

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
Be sure to check out our sister sites. www.hedgefundlounge.com, www.hedgefundtools.com, and www.hedgefundemployment.com

 

About the HedgeCo News Team

The Hedge Fund News Team stays on top of breaking news in the Hedge Fund industry on an hourly basis. Signup to HedgeCo.Net to recieve Daily or Weekly news updates from our team.
This entry was posted in HedgeCo News and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.