More developments this week in the Australian corporate regulator's lawsuit against Citigroup for insider trading and failing to manage the conflicts of interests involving its proprietary trading.
Significant developments in the Australian regulator’s insider trading case against Citigroup. The court documents filed today could rewrite the rules for investment banking worldwide by banning proprietary trading, the bread and butter for investment banks everywhere.
Regulators might be moving to crack down on the illegal trade of market-moving information from companies, but hedge funds are tapping a rich source of inside tips and predictions: politicians and the politically connected. They are hiring lobbyists to pick up market-beating tips in Washington.
Muhtar Kent, an executive with The Coca Cola Company has been tipped to be Coke's next chief operating officer, effectively the number two position. Ten years ago, he was investigated for insider trading.
Hewlett-Packard shareholders are now suing directors and executives for insider trading. Hewlett-Packard says the lawsuit is “baseless” but the history of the inside transactions might tell a different story.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, panned by Congress for its handling of a trading probe, is now under investigation from the Government Accountability Office. Questions are now being asked whether the agency gave special treatment to a major fund-raiser for President Bush.
