Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Diamondback Capital Agrees to Settle SEC Insider Trading Charges

The SEC announced that Diamondback Capital Management LLC has agreed to pay more than $9 million ($6 million of allegedly ill-gotten gains and $3 million civil penalty) to settle insider-trading charges brought by the Commission on Jan. 18. As part of the proposed settlement, the Stamford, Conn.-based hedge fund adviser also has submitted a statement of facts to the SEC and federal prosecutors, and entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The proposed settlement would resolve charges of insider trading by Diamondback in shares of Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corp. in 2008 and 2009.

“We are pleased to have reached a prompt resolution of the charges against Diamondback,” said George S. Canellos, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “If approved by the court, we believe that the proposed settlement appropriately sanctions the misconduct while giving due credit to Diamondback for its substantial assistance in the government’s investigation and the pending actions against former employees and their co-defendants.”

Diamondback Capital Agrees to Settle SEC Insider Trading Charges