insider trading

Good grief. A CPA should know better. Someone who worked in public accounting really, really ought to know better. Someone sent an email telling them not to trade company stock within a specific timeframe really, really, really ought to know better.

The complaint against the accountant who didn’t know better and his unwilling wife as filed by the SEC on 1-28-14 is here. Separately, the US AG filed criminal charges, according to another article: CPA Charged with Insider Trading via His Wife’s Account.

A few highlights of the civil complaint:

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Today’s entry in the dumbest CPA competition: shorting employer’s stock, in advance of bad news, in wife’s accountRead More »

Here are a few more consequences awaiting in the near future for Mr. Scott London, former KPMG partner, as he awaits sentencing after his guilty plea to trading on insider information.

These are pulled from his court filing in September.  Going Concern has posted a copy of the filing by Mr. Scott London taking exception to the pre-sentencing report from the United States Probation Office. You can find the filing here.

Here are some more consequences and more detail on some I’ve mentioned before: …

Consequences – insider trading edition – #10Read More »

Going Concern has breaking news about the KPMG insider trading fiasco. They have a copy of the court filing by Mr. Scott London taking exception to the pre-sentencing report from the United States Probation Office.

Check out Reminder: Insider Trading Turned Out Badly for Ex-KPMG Partner Scott London.

The GC copy of the filing can be found here.

I will have more to say about the case after the sentencing. Here are a few initial thoughts on the filing.

Arguments for shorter sentence – amounts involved

The pre-sentencing report (which I now know is called a PSR) called for downgrading to a 36 month sentence from what is calculated from federal guidelines as a 46 to 57 month range.

Mr. London’s attorney argues it should be in the recommended range of 18 to 24 months based on the amount involved that Mr. London would reasonably have expected to be involved.

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Sentencing recommendation and suggestion for lighter sentence for ex-KPMG partner’s insider tradingRead More »

I previously concluded that FINRA, the self-regulatory branch of the securities industry, gets credit for discovering the insider trading scam involving a now-former senior level partner at KPMG.

Now, I’m not so sure.

By the way, we are still waiting for sentencing of Mr. Shaw. I’ve been watching the news closely but nothing has been visible this week. Back to the main question –

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Update on wondering who first discovered the KPMG insider trading messRead More »

Who should get credit for discovering the insider trading by KPMG former partner Scott London and his golfing buddy, Brian Shaw?

That’s the question raised by a reader, Gary Zeune, after I posted this article yesterday: Minor updates on insider trading fiasco at KPMG.

I think the answer is …

Who first discovered the KMPG insider trading mess?Read More »

Only a little news lately as we wait for sentencing of confessed insider traders.  Latest I’ve seen is that Scott London will receive his sentence on October 21 and Bryan Shaw on September 16.

Here’s two articles I’ve noticed:

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Scott London has given another interview, this time with the Agora Hills Acorn – Community leader’s fall from grace stemmed from insider trading.

If you are really interested in the former KPMG partner’s story, you’ll want to check out the article.

Here’s a few interesting tidbits with my observations:

The insider work ran for about 16 months when Mr. London and his golf buddy, Bryan Shaw, mutually decided to end it, according to the article.

The article expands the developing narrative that passing on insider info started slowly and just grew over time. …

Another interview with admitted inside-trader from KPMGRead More »

As expected, former regional audit PIC Scott London entered a guilty plea on Monday to one count of securities fraud. Sentencing is set for October 21, 2013.

In the 90 minutes since I saw the first report, over 30 hits show up on an internet search. I’m sure there will be many dozens more in the next few hours.

Three initial articles I saw:

• Los Angeles Times – Former KPMG partner Scott London pleads guilty to insider trading
• Bloomberg – Ex-KPMG Auditor London Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading
• Wall Street Journal – Former KPMG Partner Pleads Guilty to Securities Fraud

Scott London was in court today on procedural matters regarding the criminal complaint alleging insider trading.

CNBC has a video interview with him.

The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times have more details.

A few tidbits from the televised interview:

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Former KPMG partner in court for arraignment and procedural issues; on camera interview with CNBCRead More »

Former KPMG regional audit PIC Scott London entered a plea agreement on Tuesday according to multiple media sources.

The agreement says he passed information to his golf buddy at least 14 times.

The Encino Patch article linked below says he will plead guilty to one felony charge of securities fraud through insider trading with potential prison term of 20 years. Multiple other reports list that as the potential penalty. The Week adds that the potential fine is up to $5M.

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Former KPMG partner enters plea agreementRead More »

The tippee in the KPMG insider trading case, Bryan Shaw, entered a guilty plea Monday on one count.

Check out the identical headlines (no, they aren’t from the same reporter or picked up on from a wire service):

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Bryan Shaw pleads guilty for conspiracy in KPMG insider trading fiasco because he’s guilty. Oh, and a really small additional consequence for Mr. London – #8Read More »

The Agoura Hills Patch reports Businesssman Out on Bail in KPMG Insider Trading Case Involving Agoura Hills Man.

I’ve been watching for news on these court appearances and no one else seems to have given any coverage.

The article says Bryan Shaw was in court last Friday, 5-10. He is out on $50,000 bail with his next court appearance on Monday 5-20. He is expected to enter a guilty plea.

Scott London will appear in court on Thursday, May 30. Initially he was going to appear Friday, May 17.

On Monday, the Department of Justice indicted Mr. Bryan Shaw, the golfing buddy of former KPMG partner Scott London on one felony count of conspiracy. Mr. Shaw reportedly entered a plea agreement saying he would plead guilty and agree to disgorge about $1.27M of profits.

The press release from the Department of Justice is here.

A few other news reports:

• Wall Street Journal – Guilty Plea in KPMG Case
• Los Angeles Times – Jeweler agrees to plead guilty in KPMG insider-trading case

I’ve looked briefly a couple of times and can’t find the indictment and plea agreement on-line.

Here are a few comments in the DoJ press release I found interesting.

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First guilty plea in KPMG insider trading fiasco – 5-7-13 updateRead More »