Traders Suspended After Stock Rumors
The incident is said to have happened 9 weeks ago, and came to light when a client contacted the bank's compliance department to blow the whistle. The rumor is thought to have been circulated about Canada-based Opti, an oil sands company, which has seen its stock price double this year.
Three of the suspended employees are said to be working in sales and trading in New York, while the fourth is believed to be a Toronto-based research analyst. US brokerage regulator the Financial Regulatory Authority is in the midst of a probe into the matter. The newspaper quoted a bank spokesperson, who said; ''We.....self-reported (the situation) to the appropriate regulatory authorities. Like any firm, we obviously take these sorts of things exceptionally seriously. It is (also) under internal review'.
In the meantime, The Wall Street Journal reports that Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, is thought to have taken a $850m bath when it recently sold its stake in Barclays Bank. Also nursing a small headache is said to be hedge fund Paulson & Co. MarketWatch reports that the firm is thought to have sustained paper losses of up to $165m by shorting Barclays stock since November last. The hedge fund is is said to have now virtually closed out all its short position in the bank.
And Bloomberg reports that Bank of New York Mellon CEO has said that his firm is keen to repay its TARP borrowing, as he is concerned about the compensation restrictions which come with it, stating (and) 'then there is the fear of what could be next'. Reuters is reporting that Morgan Stanley looks likely to be one of the first firms to become TARP-free, along with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
Finally, The Wall Street Journal reports that US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into allegations that information about certain Lehman's stock rating changes may have been improperly passed on by employees to clients before being released to the public.