Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
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.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – New York hedge fund Peconic Partners was sued yesterday for firing an employee who reportedly was running his mouth about some shady insider trading activities.
The suit, filed by former Chief Compliance Officer Joseph Sullivan in New York State Supreme Court, accuses CEO William Harnisch of wrongfully firing him.
According to the 30-page complaint, Sullivan said he was let go after voicing reservations regarding Harnisch’s trading activity involving fertilizer company Potash Corp., whose stock plummeted last month.
Sullivan alleged that Harnisch got rid of his 600,000 shares, selling them for $130 a share. He then sold a chunk of his client’s shares for around $90 each. This may have helped to drive the price down of Potash, which is now trading at around $82.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been contacted by Sullivan’s legal team to alert them of the possible insider trading activities.
Peconic Partners was founded in 2004 and has approximately $1.5 billion under management.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
Washington Post – A son and a brother of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) are accused in two lawsuits of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars in a hedge fund deal that went sour, court records show.
The Democratic vice presidential candidate’s son Hunter, 38, and brother James, 59, assert instead that their former partner defrauded them by misrepresenting his experience in the hedge fund industry and recommending that they hire a lawyer with felony convictions.
The legal actions have been playing out in New York State Supreme Court since 2007, and they focus on Hunter and James Biden’s involvement in Paradigm Companies LLC, a hedge fund group. Hunter Biden, a Washington lobbyist, briefly served as president of the firm.
A lawsuit filed by their former partner Anthony Lotito Jr. asserts in court papers that the deal was crafted to get Hunter Biden out of lobbying because his father was concerned about the impact it would have on his bid for the White House. Biden was running for the Democratic nomination at the time the suit was filed.
CNN Money – No one would dare go so far as to say that the Wall Street job market is bright.
Through June, financial firms of all stripes have shed an estimated 63,000 jobs over the past year, according to the latest employment figures from the Labor Department. That’s due in large part to the housing slump and credit crisis.
The pain is particularly acute on Wall Street. Investment banks and brokerages have shed an estimated 7,600 jobs, or roughly 4% of their workforce during the past year, according to the latest figures from the New York State Department of Labor.
If previous market downturns are any guide, analysts project that Wall Street could cut anywhere between 20% to 25% of its workers if the economy gets even worse.
But despite this, there are some financial firms hanging out the "Help Wanted" sign.
FINalternatives- The $154.5 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund last month made commitments to a trio of hedge fund and private equity managers.
The CRF committed €150 million (US$233 million) to CVC European Equity Fund V and $50 million to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners IV, a $4 billion middle-market, woman-owned private equity shop.
The fund last month also made a $1 million commitment to Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund, through one of its funds of hedge funds, which was not disclosed for competitive reasons
