NEW YORK - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday obtained an asset freeze in connection with suspected insider trading in Anadarko Petroleum Corp before the oil company agreed to be acquired by rival Chevron Corp.
In a separate complaint, the SEC said the traders were unknown as they used accounts located in Britain and Cyprus, making a series of “large, unprecedented purchases” of call option contracts in Anadarko days after the company began acquisition talks, and weeks before the potential agreement was made public.
The first suspicious purchases were made on Feb. 8, two days after Chevron privately proposed an acquisition to Anadarko, according to the SEC. All told, 1,650 call options were purchased across four transactions between then and April 1. Each purchase accounted for a large portion of such call purchases on each particular day.
While it has not yet identified specific individuals, the SEC believes the traders are located outside the United States, adding there is a “significant risk” the illicit proceeds may move overseas shortly.
Good
Surprised we don’t see more of this
Shady big oil.
Finance Finance Latest News, Finance Finance Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »