The SEC is now requiring fund managers to report more information by revising Form ADV disclosures. In this article, Mr. Scharfman explains that it is still important to perform operational due diligence regardless of changes made to ADV disclosures and the yellow flags to look for when doing so. The piece also encourages investors to be aware of the fact that just because the SEC might require more information from funds, does not mean that there is as much quality in the documents as there is quantity.

To read the full Institutional Investor article, please click here.

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The fees and assets, as well as the outside members affiliated with the fund, would have been looked at more carefully during an operational due diligence review.

It seems that because Cannon’s pay rested on the performance of Matador, Cannon felt the need to inflate Global’s share price when it wasn’t doing as well as he’d hoped. Cannon also went as far as to put a false share price on Matador’s monthly brokerage statements.

It is unclear just how long Cannon was getting away with these discrepancies in fund data and trading, but perhaps a deeper look into the fund would have raised yellow flags for investors seeking transparency among the funds they were choosing to invest in.

Cannon’s lawyer is refuting the allegations brought up against his client and says that Russell Cannon did not do anything wrong and that they disagree with charges.

“The SEC asks that Cannon be ordered to halt the allegedly fraudulent activities, pay a fine and disgorge profits.”

Investors cannot solely rely on the SEC to detect fraud and other issues within hedge funds. This is why it is important for the investor to take it upon themselves to work with an operational due diligence consultant that will look use their expertise to focus in on the small details that may sometimes slip between the cracks, causing more serious problems in the long run.

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The actor has recently teamed up with the FBI to create a video which encourages would be tipsters to come forward with any insider trading news, and outlines, that greed is not good. Here is the video:

Tipsters who decide to turn into rats and go to the government might do better then to follow Douglas’ advice. Whistleblower lawyer David K. Colapinto outlines that, “If they just go to the FBI, they are probably going to get zero,” Colapinto said. “The FBI’s not obligated to do anything for them.”

Colapinto said that if informants want a reward for information that exposes financial fraud, they should consult a lawyer — and file a whistleblower claim with the SEC.

Under the SEC’s , tipsters are entitled to 10 to 30 percent of the money the SEC collects if the whistleblower’s information leads to an enforcement action in which sanctions of more than $1 million are ordered.  The bounties were ordered by Congress in the aftermath of the financial crisis and were intended to be powerful weapond in the war on Wall Street fraud. That being said Harry Markopolos, who reported the Madoff fraud to the SEC for years, got nothing.

Attempting to diagnose whether or not a hedge fund has the potential to be exposed to insider trading scandals can be a critical part of analysis of a fund’s compliance and trading functions during the operational due diligence process. Investors should attempt to evaluate such risks during a review of operational risk factors including personal trading policies.

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To refresh memories regarding Mr. Stanford’s alleged crimes and his passion for cricket see the previous post here and here – and some good lessons on operational due diligence.

The first day of jury selection has ended in the oft-delayed trial of jailed Texas financier R Allen Stanford, who is accused of bilking investors out of $7billion in a vast Ponzi scheme. A federal judge spent Monday questioning 80 potential jurors. Stanford emerged in chains.

In other Stanford news, Bloomberg is reporting that the SEC is asking a judge to determine a payout plan for Stanford victims.

Here are old videos of Stanford in his own words talking about Antigua:

And video of Stanford being treated after being beaten by fellow inmates in prison:

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During the operational due diligence process investors can take a number of measure to evaluate the quality and robustness of a firm’s valuation policies and procedures. Additionally, investors should inquire as to how transparent such valuation procedures are and whether any testing of such procedures is conducted. A key element of any valuation process should be independent oversight and pricing sources.

A recent example which demonstrates the importance of valuation is the case of Michael Balboa. It is being reported that Mr. Balboa was charged with fraud and conspiracy. It has been alleged that he made investments in illiquid bonds in Nigeria and Uruguay. Prosecutors allege that he worked with two brokers to inflate the values of the bonds. One of the brokers Gilles De Charsonvillne (as well as Balboa) was also sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC received help from the Bermuda Monetary Authority with the investigation. This article talks about how such efforts are part of the SEC’s new risk analytics division. The events allegedly took place in 2008 while Balboa ran a fund for Millennium Global Investments. Balboa reportedly earned 40% of the fees from from the fund’s $844 million under management or approximately $6.5 million. Millennium Global said it had reported Balboa’s “rogue behavior” to both U.S. and British authorities.

According to this website for the Russia Forum 2010, “Michael Balboa has over 15 years of experience in EM instruments. Prior to establishing ARAM Global, he was Managing Director of Emerging Credit and the Millennium Global Emerging Credit Fund at Millennium Global.

Mr. Balboa’s career began at Salomon Brothers (1992-95), after which he co-managed the Strategos Fund, an EM hedge fund founded in 1995. He then joined Greenwich Europe and was actively involved in the management of the top performing Rainbow Advisor’s EM funds (2003-06) as well as the Rainbow Macro Fund. Mr. Balboa is a graduate of Hofstra University.”

Balboa parted ways with Millennium Global in 2009. His current employer, ARAM Global, said he is currently on leave from the firm….

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It is also being reported that Madoff claims that many of the large banks and fund of hedge funds who invested with him were “wilfully blind” and “chose to ignore con.” Here is a video about it:

It also seems a secondary market has developed for betting on how successful Irving Picard will be in recovering Madoff claims…

Finally, the Financial Times is reporting that motivated by continued paranoia (is it paranoia if the government really is out to get hedge funds?…) surrounding government oversight of insider trading hedge funds have begun to hire security firms to perform sweeps their offices and homes for electronic bugs (aka: listening devices). Here’s a video about some of the technology used in these sweeps including hidden camera detectors, fiber optic cameras, spectrum analyzers, and non-linear junction detectors:

So what happens when they find one? Maybe it would be like when a man named Yasir Afifi found an FBI tracking device on his car and asked the Internet community to tell him if he was being spied upon. Perhaps hedge funds familiar with reverse engineering strategies could similarly reverse engineer the technology and begin spying on the government – or would that be considered insider trading….?

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Specifically, hedge funds with at least $150 million in assets will be required to register with the SEC. As a reminder hedge funds were previously required to register with the SEC but that requirement was lifted after Philip Goldstein sued the SEC (and won) in 2006 to lift the registration ban – here is the decision. Despite the Goldstein rule the hedge fund industry, via groups such as the Managed Funds Association, have expressed support for hedge fund registration:

Drawing a distinction between hedge fund and private equity compliance risks, the article quotes Mr. Scharfman in part as saying,

” Some of the compliance problems that could arise in a transaction-based business model, such as a hedge fund, aren’t likely to crop up at private equity funds, said Scharfman. The risk is very low, for example, that private equity fund employees would trade equities from their own accounts ahead of the fund, he said. Developing and monitoring insider trading restrictions, however, will be necessary for both types of firms, said Scharfman. “

The full article can be read on the Wall St. Journal website (subscription required).

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Photos recently surfaced of Stanford beaten in prison over a dispute related to using the telephone.

Since the allegations against Stanford broke a number of interesting facts have come out regarding his business and operations including many operational risk red flags.

Here is part one of the BBC Panorama special on Stanford:

Part two:

Part three:

And here’s a video about Stanford being sued for gambling losses. This video also talks about allegations by James M. Davis, Mr. Stanford’s former CFO who has since agreed to a plea deal with the government, that Stanford participated in a  bizarre blood brothers ritual with Leroy King, Antigua’s chief banking supervisor – where Stanford’s offshore bank was located:

And here is a video of Stanford victims and former employee:

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