A fifth executive at SAC Capital Advisors received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in connection with the investigation of the government related to the insider trading activities of the hedge fund involving the shares of Wyeth Limited (NSE:WYETH) (BOM:500095) and Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE:ELN).
SAC Capital Advisors’ portfolio manager, Anthony Vaccarino will join the three other executives of the hedge fund including its president, Tom Cinheeney, chief operating officer, Solomon Kumin, and compliance head Steve Kessler. The executives received their subpoena last week to appear in court and answer questions about the case.
Its founder, Steven Cohen was also ordered to testify before a grand jury. However it is believed that Cohen might claim his constitutional rights for incrimination instead of answering a wide range of questions.
According to the external spokesman for SAC Jonathan Gasthalter, “We don’t think it is unusual that in this investigation the government would interview our senior executives about how the firm operates.”
Steve Cohen considers closing SAC Capital
Cohen is considering the idea of closing down SAC Capital Advisors after failing to reach an agreement to end the insider trading investigation of the government. The hedge fund manager is planning to open a “family office” to manage his personal funds. Cohen has $9 billion investments in SAC Capital, which means he will still manage one of the largest portfolios even without outside investors once he converts its business operations into a family office.
The hedge fund agreed to pay a penalty of $616 million to settle the insider trading complaint of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subject to the approval of the court. Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero questioned the language of the settlement agreement, which allows the hedge fund to accept or deny any wrongdoing in the case.
In November last year, the commission filed an insider trading lawsuit against SAC Capital’s former portfolio manager Mathew Martoma. He pleaded not guilty to the charges of the SEC, and refused to provide any information that would implicate Cohen in the case.
Last March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Michael Steinberg, the long-time portfolio manager of the hedge fund. He was charged with four counts of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud on allegations that he made illegal trades involving the shares of Dell Inc (NASDAQ:DELL) and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in 2008. He pleaded not guilty and posted $3 million bond. He was arrested based on the information provided by his former analyst, Jon Horvath who admitted wrongdoing. Horvath is cooperating with the government investigation.
