Federal investigators have turned up the heat on Wall Street, raiding three hedge funds in what one of the targets called a wide-ranging probe of insider trading.
The FBI on Monday searched the New York offices of Level Global Investors LP and the Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters of Diamondback Capital Management LLC, a law enforcement official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing case.
Another FBI official said the agency also searched a third site, at 30 Federal Street in Boston. Hedge fund Loch Capital Management LLC has its headquarters at that address.
The FBI said in a statement that it had executed search warrants in the three states “in an ongoing investigation.” Agency spokesmen said they could not comment further because the court documents are under seal.
A spokesman for Level Global acknowledged the raid took place.
“We can confirm that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited our offices this morning as part of what we believe to be a broader investigation,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Four men wearing overcoats and badges emerged late on Monday from the Level Global offices in midtown Manhattan, pulling rolling suitcases behind them and carrying nylon backpacks. They declined to answer reporters’ questions.
In Stamford, security guards ordered journalists to leave the premises of the high-rise building housing the offices of Diamond Capital Management. Three men were seen leaving the building in an FBI vehicle on Monday evening.
The raids rattled Wall Street and bank shares slumped on Monday as news of FBI action spread. Goldman Sachs Group Inc sank 3.4 percent, while Bank of America Corp fell 3.1 percent. Several white-collar defense lawyers in New York said they were bombarded by calls from traders seeking representation.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are investigating insider trading by hedge funds, mutual funds and investment bankers, the Wall Street Journal reported this weekend. The companies allegedly earned tens of millions in illegal profits using secret information about mergers, according to the Journal.
Diamondback and Level Global both are run by former managers of SAC Capital Advisors LP, of Stamford. Diamondback manages about US$4.71 billion, according to public filings. Level Global manages US$3.09 billion, filings show.
Loch Capital is run by brothers Timothy and Todd McSweeney. The brothers have been linked in news reports to hedge-fund manager Steven Fortuna. Fortuna pleaded guilty last year to charges stemming from an earlier insider trading investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Workers at Loch Capital declined to answer calls placed by a reporter through the office building’s intercom on Monday.
The raids come a month after US Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan told the New York City Bar Association that white-collar crime was on the rise, carried out by Wall Street heavyweights who consider inside information “a performance enhancing drug that provides the illegal ‘edge’ to outpace their rivals and make even more money.”
Bharara said his office and the FBI had both recently added more resources to exposing insider trading and considered it a top criminal priority.
“Disturbingly, many of the people who are going to such lengths to obtain inside information for a trading advantage are already among the most advantaged, privileged and wealthy insiders in modern finance,” he said last month.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
RSS