Latest news with #insiderTrading
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former OpenSea Manager Has Conviction Overturned in First-Ever Crypto Insider Trading Case
A U.S. Appeals Court overturned the conviction of a former OpenSea product manager Thursday, blowing a hole in what had previously been the most prominent conflict of interest-related crypto industry prosecution in the United States to date. The Manhattan-based appeals court found that prosecutors in the initial trial of Nathaniel Chastain were improperly allowed to argue that Chastain's decision-making about what NFTs were featured on OpenSea's homepage constituted 'property' of the company. Chastain was found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering for manipulating his knowledge of what NFTs would be featured on the marketplace's landing page to enrich himself. He was sentenced to three months in prison. At the time of Chastain's arrest for the charges in 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice touted the case as the 'first ever digital asset insider trading scheme.' The appeals court ruled that Chastain's decision-making about what NFTs should feature on OpenSea's homepage did not constitute a traditional property interest of the company. That doesn't mean Chastain's conduct was not still potentially criminal. It means that, as Chastain's attorneys later argued on appeal, he should have faced a different criminal charge, such as fraud based on unethical business dealings. 'A note from the jury suggested that it believed that OpenSea did not view the featured NFT information as confidential but that Chastain acted unethically by trading on the information,' the appeals court wrote in its decision today. 'Under these circumstances, we cannot say that the jury would have reached the same verdict if it had been properly instructed that fraud requires the appropriation of a property interest rather than unprofessional business conduct,' the court continued. The appeals court also noted how, during Chastain's initial trial, the defendant attempted to show that OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer also used privileged company information for 'personal benefit,' as a means to prove that Chastain 'didn't believe company policy precluded officers or employees from using similar company information for personal benefit.' The district court ultimately prevented Chastain's attorneys from questioning Finzer about purported trades the CEO made of Polygon's native token prior to public announcements about the Polygon network's integration with OpenSea. The court ruled such testimony inadmissible in part because there was no proof Chastain was aware of any such trades at the time of his own featured NFT trades. It also said the testimony would improperly disparage Finzer. In today's ruling, the appeals court agreed that Chastain did not offer compelling evidence that he was personally aware of any such trades made by Finzer at the time of the events in questions, nor that his conduct was informed by such knowledge. Thus, it dismissed objections made by Chastain's attorneys that the district court abused its discretion in making such evidentiary rulings. The case now kicks back to its initial district court (also in Manhattan), where it will undergo 'further proceedings' consistent with the appeals court's decision today. Editor's note: This story was updated after publication to clarify statements made by the appeals court regarding OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Free Malaysia Today
01-08-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Ex-deputy chairman fails in review bid over order for fresh insider trading trial
A Court of Appeal bench said there is no breach of natural justice in the findings of the previous panel. PUTRAJAYA : The Court of Appeal has rejected a review application by a former executive deputy chairman of Malaysian Merchant Marine Bhd, whose insider trading case was ordered by another Court of Appeal bench to be reheard in the High Court. A three-member bench chaired by Justice Ruzima Ghazali said Ramesh Rajaratnam's application had no merit because there was no breach of natural justice committed by the previous bench. Ruzima said the previous panel, in its grounds of judgment, did not base its decision solely on several provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). 'They addressed at length the points and authorities raised by parties. There is no breach of natural justice in the findings of the previous panel,' he said. Justices Azmi Ariffin and Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz also heard the application. Ramesh had been found guilty by a sessions court on three charges of insider trading, but the High Court set aside the decision upon his appeal. His complaint was that the previous panel only looked into Sections 173, 180, 182(a) and 422 of the CPC in setting aside his acquittal and ordering a rehearing of his appeal before a new High Court judge. He said this was not canvassed before the panel and only appeared in the grounds of judgment. Ruzima said the threshold for review was high. 'As the apex court, as in this case, we have always been cautious when exercising the power of review of its earlier decision, as on the face of it, it goes against the principle of finality,' he said. He said review powers of the court may only be exercised in exceptional cases if there had been a significant injustice or the applicant had no alternative remedy. Lawyers Gurdial Singh Nijar and Abraham Au appeared for Ramesh in today's proceedings, while Hasley Tajudin, Law Wen Zhen and Danial Ariff Tung represented the Securities Commission Malaysia. Last year, the Court of Appeal said the High Court, as an appellate court, could not decide an appeal solely on the trial court's errors or omissions. Justice Wong Kian Kheong said the High Court had a judicial duty under Section 316 of the CPC to consider the merits of the case. '(Otherwise), there would have been an abdication of the High Court's judicial duty,' he said in the judgment setting aside Ramesh's acquittal. Wong said the High Court was also duty-bound to consider whether the errors or omissions by the trial court had caused a failure of justice as stated under Section 422 of the CPC. On May 6, 2024, Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, now a Federal Court judge, led a three-member bench in allowing the prosecution's appeal, and remitted the matter to be heard by a new High Court judge. The other member of the bench was Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim. Vazeer said even though there was judicial copying in the sessions court's grounds of decision, and it was a non-speaking judgment, the High Court committed a legal error in granting an acquittal. Ramesh was charged in the Kuala Lumpur sessions court on April 29, 2015 with three counts of insider trading under Section 188(2)(a) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007. On Sept 11, 2019, the trial judge convicted him on all three charges. and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment and a fine of RM3 million on each charge. The prison terms were ordered to run concurrently. Insider trading carries a punishment of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years and a fine of not less than RM1 million. On May 20, 2021, the High Court allowed Ramesh's appeal and set aside the conviction and sentence on all three charges. At the Court of Appeal, the Securities Commission, with the public prosecutor's consent, decided to pursue its appeal on one charge only.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Insiders At Monolithic Power Systems Sold US$115m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness
The fact that multiple Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag. While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. The Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing, Maurice Sciammas, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$10m worth of shares at a price of US$935 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$759). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. In the last year Monolithic Power Systems insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! See our latest analysis for Monolithic Power Systems For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. The last three months saw significant insider selling at Monolithic Power Systems. In total, insiders sold US$13m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap. Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that Monolithic Power Systems insiders own 3.4% of the company, worth about US$1.2b. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders. Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But it is good to see that Monolithic Power Systems is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Monolithic Power Systems you should be aware of, and 2 of these are significant. But note: Monolithic Power Systems may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-Janus Henderson analyst jailed in UK for six years for insider dealing
LONDON (Reuters) -A former Janus Henderson analyst was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday for using confidential information on companies, including Daimler, Jet2 and THG to make nearly 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) following a London court trial. Redinel Korfuzi, 38, used information he accessed through his job as a research analyst at the asset manager to place bets alongside his sister Oerta Korfuzi, 36. The siblings pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit insider dealing and money laundering between January 2019 and March 2021, but were convicted last month after a trial at Southwark Crown Court. Judge Alexander Milne sentenced Redinel Korfuzi to six years in jail and Oerta Korfuzi, who had an investment and finance qualification, to five years, saying the pair were "intelligent and financially aware individuals" whose actions were a "betrayal of trust". Janus Henderson, which manages roughly $380 billion in assets, was not involved in the criminal case or accused of any wrongdoing. A spokesperson said when the Korfuzis were convicted: "The protection of confidential information is extremely important to Janus Henderson and the firm treats any actual or suspected misuse of confidential information with the utmost seriousness." Prosecutor Tom Forster told jurors at the start of the trial in February that Redinel and Oerta Korfuzi used lockdown restrictions imposed from March 2020 to carry out the conspiracy from the London flat they shared. Forster added that the defendants made a profit of around 963,000 pounds in relation to 11 companies' shares in just over six months. The Financial Conduct Authority previously said Janus Henderson had cooperated fully with its investigation. Sign in to access your portfolio
Globe and Mail
01-07-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Off-market insider buying at Canada Nickel Company (CNC)
Jennifer Edith Morais, a Director, acquired 176,471 Common Shares on an indirect ownership basis for registered holder Morais Investments Inc. at a price of $0.850 through a prospectus or prospectus exempt offering on June 26th, 2025. The insider also acquired 88,235 Warrants with an exercise price of $1.200 until June 26, 2028. This represents a $150,000 investment into the company's shares and an account share holdings change of greater than 100%. Let the insiders guide you to opportunity at
