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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Capstone Global Markets First Annual Charity Day, with participation of the New Jersey Nets, was a success, raising over $150,000 for The Jasper Against Batten Fund.
On October 1st, The First Annual Capstone Global Markets Charity Day supported research focused on finding a cure to Batten Disease, a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disorder affecting children. The boutique derivatives broker dealer donated 100% of its net commissions, for a total of $155,000, to The Jasper Against Batten Fund. This is the largest donation that the charitable organization has ever received. Jasper Duinstra is a 4-year old boy who was diagnosed with Batten Disease in March 2009, and has subsequently been experiencing seizures, deteriorating vision, limited vocabulary and paralysis in his legs.
Representatives of the New Jersey Nets who participated in the event included President Rod Thorn, General Manager (and former New York Knicks player) Kiki Vandeweghe, the New Jersey Nets dance team and the New Jersey Nets mascot.
Each was involved in thanking clients for their business and discussing the importance of the cause. The newly created annual event is part of the commitment from Capstone Global Markets to give back to the global community regardless of the macro financial environment. Every year, Capstone Global Markets will select specific charities to donate to, each with the common goal of helping children.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – The First Annual Capstone Global Markets Charity Day will support research focused on finding a cure to Batten Disease, a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disorder affecting children, October 1st, 2009.
The boutique derivatives broker dealer has committed to donating 100% of its net commissions that day to The Jasper Against Batten Fund. Jasper Duinstra is a 4-year old boy who was diagnosed with Batten Disease in March 2009, and has subsequently been experiencing seizures, deteriorating vision, limited vocabulary and paralysis in his legs.
After the urgency of finding a cure for Batten Disease was brought to the attention of representatives of The New Jersey Nets, the basketball team committed to joining Capstone Global Markets on October 1st to raise money for the cause.
The New Jersey Nets’ involvement at the fundraiser will be highlighted by the participation of Nets president Rod Thorn, general manager (and former New York Knicks player) Kiki Vandeweghe, the Nets dance team and the Nets mascot. Each will be involved in thanking clients for their business and discussing the importance of the cause.
“We created this event to bring public awareness of this devastating disease and the urgency of Jasper’s need for support,” said Paul Britton, CEO of Capstone Holdings Group, LLC. “We are pleased with the enthusiasm from our clients to join us in this mission to help Jasper and other children affected by Batten Disease. Capstone Global Markets is committed to helping charities dedicated to helping children.
The newly created annual event is part of Capstone’s commitment to giving back to the global community regardless of the macro financial environment. Every year the firm will select specific charities to donate to, each with the common goal of helping children.
Capstone Global Markets, LLC is an affiliate of Capstone Holdings Group, LLC. Capstone Global Markets is a boutique broker dealer specializing in volatility trading strategies.
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net alex@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!
The Tribune – The more than $8.8 million judgment awarded to clients of Jeffrey Forrest has been paid, six months after a financial regulatory agency determined that the former San Luis Obispo investment adviser had misrepresented a risky hedge fund as being safe.
Forrest, who owned WealthWise LLC, and Associated Securities, an El Segundo-based broker-dealer with which his firm had been registered to sell securities, abandoned their appeal of the judgment in federal court, according to Phil Aidikoff, a Beverly Hills attorney representing the group of WealthWise investors.
CNN Money – John Costas, who helped make UBS AG into one of the world’s biggest investment banks, wants to build a lasting Wall Street player — and put the 2007 demise of hedge fund Dillon Read Capital Management behind him.
Costas and long-time partner Michael Hutchins have launched The PrinceRidge Group, a boutique broker-dealer that is, for now, focused on trading mortgage and corporate debt.
Over time, though, he intends to expand into a mid-size investment bank, seizing "unprecedented" opportunities created by the shake-up on Wall Street.
Wealth Bulletin – The Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to expand its examination of advisory firms to include contact with clients has irked the advisers, according to an investmentnews report. The advisers fear that their clients might panic and get nervous because of the unwanted scrutiny.
The SEC sent a letter this week to several trade associations, saying that its examiners would increase the number of sources used to verify account assets, including contacting clients, hedge fund investors and managers, bank and broker-dealer custodians, account administrators and others.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – UBS AG will pay $200 million to settle the SEC charges that the Swiss Bank acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser.
According to the original compliant, UBS helped certain U.S. individuals to set up and maintain undisclosed Swiss bank accounts, which enabled these clients to evade U.S. taxes. In addition, UBS acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser from 1999 to 2008, to thousands of U.S. clients while holding billions of dollars in assets for them. UBS allegedly raked in profits of up to $140 million a year from this business.
“UBS avoided compliance with U.S. securities laws for many years, at the same time they were engaged in other illegal conduct, which makes this one of the most egregious cases of its kind," said Scott W. Friestad, Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in a recent press release.
The SEC alleges that UBS was fully aware that it was required to register with their agency. They believed that UBS lured clients by sending them to exclusive events such as art shows, yacht outings and sporting events, all sponsored by the bank. In addition, client advisors who traveled abroad to the U.S. were given encrypted laptops and were trained on how to avoid detection by authorities.
In addition to the $200 million fine, UBS will settle criminal charges with the Department of Justice in which they will pay an addition fine of $180 million, and another $400 million in tax-related payments.
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
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Texas businessman Robert Allen Stanford yesterday along with three of his companies for running a fraudulent $8 billion investment scheme.
"We are alleging a fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world," said Rose Romero, Regional Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office.
According to the allegations, Stanford International Bank sold approximately $8 billion of so-called “certificates of deposit” under the pretense they would yield extremely high interest rates thanks to SIB’s unique and one-of-a kind investment strategy. These CD’s were peddled as safe under the false notion that the bank re-invests the funds in liquid instruments while being under the constant supervision of 20 analysts and Antiguan regulators.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued a temporary restraining order and appointed a receiver to the assets, which have all been frozen.
“Stanford and the close circle of family and friends with whom he runs his businesses perpetrated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. "We are moving quickly and decisively in this enforcement action to stop this fraudulent conduct and preserve assets for investors."
The companies involved in the scheme include Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, broker-dealer Stanford Group Company and investment advisor Stanford Capital Management, both based in Houston. In addition, the SEC charged SIB CFO James Davis and CIO of Stanford Financial Group Laura Pendergest-Holt for their involvement in the scam.
The SEC also slammed Stanford with a second charge, relating to a mutual fund scheme. According to the complaint, Stanford Allocation Strategy was created to help SGC rake in $1.2 billion by using doctored performance reports to help sway investors. The bogus data helped Stanford’s company grow from managing $10 million in 2004 to over $1 billion.
Stanford, 58, known in the Caribbean as “Sir Allen” after being knighted there in 2006, has an estimated personal net worth of $2.2 billion, according to Forbes.
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
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Mary Schapiro, who most recently was the CEO for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is now the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Senate approved Schapiro yesterday, a month after being nominated President Barack Obama.
Schapiro takes over the SEC at a crucial time, when the agency along with former head Christopher Cox received an abundance of bad press over lax regulation in a faltering economy.
In a year where hedge funds have taken a beating and some of the world’s most reputable financial institutions have come crumbling down, all eyes are on the SEC as to how and why they could not prevent or foresee disaster.
Even as more light is shed on the Bernard Madoff debacle after losses amounting to over $50 billion, questions still arise as to how the agency could have missed the pink elephant in the room. Schapiro, who has taken flak for clearing Madoff from fraud, says that the broker dealer watchdog did not have the jurisdiction to investigate his investment advisory business.
Many are suprised at the appointment of Schapiro simply because she has been a staple in government regulation agencies since the Reagan era. Some argue that this will not provide the "change" we need, especially since Schapiro was at the center of an agency that many feel is corrupt, or at the least, too forgiving.
Schapiro is the first woman to chair the SEC.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
Law.com – The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has become the first circuit in the country to rebuff efforts by a hedge fund to call in a debt based on an alleged technical violation of bond terms in a dispute over an $850 million note issued to United Health Group Inc.
The circuit noted that at least three other federal judges and a New York state court have come down the same way, rejecting the practice used to assert a default claim against United Health in United Health Group Inc. v. Wilmington Trust Co., No. 08-1904 (8th Cir.)
Claims similar to Wilmington Trust’s have cropped up in other cases as an investment strategy derided by attorney Robert Giuffra, as a "shakedown strategy" that takes from shareholders and gives to bondholders. Giuffra of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York represented United Health in the case. "We are pleased with the 8th Circuit’s decision holding that United fully complied with the terms of its indenture, the relevant federal statute and acted in good faith," he said.
CNBC – Cramer got a chance Thursday to check in briefly with CSX Chairman and CEO Michael Ward.
Ward’s been a regular guest on Mad Money as his company has battled with activist hedge funds fighting to have him ousted.
Those hedge funds have managed to get two people on CSX’s board of directors, and another two are pending approval based on a lawsuit that proceeds to oral hearings this coming Monday, Aug. 25 in the Second Court of Appeals in New York.
“Maybe they can actually help,” Cramer said of the board additions.
Washington, D.C., Jan. 3, 2008 – The Securities and Exchange Commission has received and posted on its Web site the text of the RAND Corporation’s final report on practices in the investment adviser and broker-dealer industries. The Commission has been anxious to receive RAND’s study of the investment adviser and broker-dealer industries, and the nature of their relationships with customers. The report will assist the Commission’s efforts to update our regulations to improve investor protections in today’s new marketplace," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Our staff is now studying the report and the potential regulatory implications of its findings. RAND produced the report under contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2006/2006-162.htm). The report is the product of more than a year of empirical study and analysis. Following a March 2007 Court of Appeals decision that overturned a 2005 SEC rule permitting non-adviser broker-dealers to charge fees to investors based on account size, the SEC and RAND agreed that RAND would deliver its final, peer-reviewed report in pre-publication format on Dec. 31, 2007, three months earlier than the contract had originally required. The text of the posted report is final and has been peer-reviewed. Neither the data nor the analysis on which it is based will change.
