Editor’s Note: Related tickers: UBS AG (NYSE:UBS), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP), Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), RHJ International SA (EBR:RHJI)
Investor Ackman to Cut Canadian Pacific Stake (WSJ)
New York hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman is selling up to 29% of his stake in Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP) -1.70% a year after winning a high-profile proxy fight to install a new chief executive at the railroad. The planned sale comes after large gains in Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP)’s stock price but also as the railroad grapples with cost cutting and a series of accidents. Mr. Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP said Monday it plans to sell up to seven million shares of Canada’s second-largest railroad, a sale that would reap about $923 million at Monday’s closing price. The activist investor is currently Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP)’s largest shareholder with about 24.2 million shares, or a 14% stake.
UBS unit to pay $5.3 mln to settle SEC charge (Reuters)
A UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) hedge fund agreed to pay a fine of $5.3 million to settle a charge that one of its units bought stocks in public offerings that an affiliated unit was shorting, the U.S. securities regulator said on Monday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said UBS AG (NYSE:UBS)’s $6 billion hedge fund, UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) O’Connor LLC, violated a rule governing short sales 16 times between January 2009 and March 2011. The rule prevents an entity from buying stocks in a public offering if it has shorted those same stocks. “The settlement pertains to certain transactions for which O’Connor believed that an exception to an SEC rule applied,” UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) spokeswoman Karina Byrne told Reuters.
Former trader offers sordid peek at world of hedge funds (NDTV)
Turney Duff, former stock trader, recovering cocaine user and first-time author, stepped out the front door of his new home, the ground floor of a modest split-level house in a sleepy Long Island neighborhood. “You want the grand tour?” Duff said, flashing a smile. “It’ll take 30 seconds.” The humble environs stand in stark contrast to his digs a decade ago, when he lived in a $9,300-a-month triplex in Manhattan and earned nearly $2 million a year as a hedge fund player.
Book Explores Downfall Of An Indian-American Business Icon (Krcu)
Rajat Gupta was one of the wealthiest and most successful men in America and an icon of the Indian-American community. Today, he faces two years in prison for insider trading, convicted of passing corporate secrets to his billionaire friend and Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam. Gupta was already a wealthy man; what was the motive for his crime? In The Billionaire’s Apprentice:The Rise of the Indian-American Elite and the Fall of the Galleon Hedge Fund, journalist Anita Raghavan tries to answer that question.
Former JPMorgan Trader Gulati Said to Get $300 Million for Fund (SFGate)
Deepak Gulati, a former head of global equity proprietary trading at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), started investing at his own hedge fund after raising about $300 million, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Argentiere Capital AG, run by Gulati, 35, and a team of former colleagues from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), started trading yesterday from its base in Zug, Switzerland, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the move hasn’t been made public. The fund will focus on volatility trades, betting on the rate at which stocks rise or fall. Gulati declined to comment on the fundraising or his backers yesterday.
Kleinwort Benson owner slams rebel hedge fund break-up calls (CityWire)
The group of investors calling for a break-up of Kleinwort owner RHJ International SA (EBR:RHJI) has reiterated its stance after the firm wrote to shareholders urging them to block the rebels’ proposals. Fabio Lopez Ceron of Geneva-based Equilibria Capital, which is leading the disgruntled group, said in a statement this afternoon: ‘We are pleased that shareholders finally have the opportunity to determine the future direction of their company by exercising their votes. ‘In our view, the board of RHJ International SA (EBR:RHJI) has presided over an erratic strategy, which has resulted in consistent and substantial value destruction…
