There is little ambiguity about the ultimate target of investigators and prosecutors in their seven-year campaign to halt insider trading by hedge funds on Wall Street. He is “Portfolio Manager A” in Friday’s historic $614m settlement with SAC, the highly successful $15bn fund.
Portfolio Manager A is not named in the Securities and Exchange Commission suit, but he is identified as “the owner and founder of SAC”. The owner and founder of SAC is Steve Cohen, and his innocence has become the key to whether the industry can retain a reputation for skill, rather than illegality. Mr Cohen denies wrongdoing. SAC neither admitted nor denied the SEC charges.
The industry’s image has already been tarnished by the SEC and Department of Justice inquiry, which has revealed shocking behaviour on a wide scale. Those jailed include Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon fund and Rajat Gupta, the former head of McKinsey and Goldman Sachs board member, who leaked him information.