Citigroup Inc will pay a $30 million fine after one of its analysts improperly sent confidential research on an Apple supplier to big clients including Steven A. Cohen’s hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, a securities regulator said on Thursday. Citigroup analyst Kevin Chang emailed unpublished research about Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, a major supplier of Apple Inc iPhones, to SAC, T. Rowe Price, Citadel and GLG Partners, according to William Galvin, Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth. Chang’s research included lower order forecasts for Apple’s iPhones in the first quarter of 2013, which would have had a detrimental effect on Apple, the regulator said. SAC, hedge fund Citadel and mutual fund firm T. Rowe Price all sold Apple stock.
Amenda aplicata celor de la Citigroup este una dintre cele mai mari impuse vreodata unei institutii financiare de acest gen, iar ea vine la doar un an de zile dupa ce aceeasi firma a fost amendata cu 2 milioane de dolari pentru practici asemanatoare desfasurate inaintea listarii pe bursa americana a companiei Facebook. Notele informative de acest gen sunt extrem de periculoase, deoarece ele pot influenta intr-o foarte mare masura valoarea companiilor, iar evolutia pentru anul 2013 a valorii actiunilor Apple pe bursa americana demonstreaza ca agentiile federale americane trebuie sa fie mult mai stricte in verificarea si sanctionarea acestui gen de actiuni.