No Smoke Without Fire: Of Reputation: "Leon Cooperman"

NSWF:Reputation Degree

 We excerpt-edited the following report to disrepute Leon “Lying Legacy” Cooperman of Omega Advisors. The indisputable "circumstantial evidence" indicates a systemic legacy of insider at Omega Advisors; and indeed characterised by settlement out of court:
 

“I’m not going to let these people destroy my legacy.” Leon Cooperman in Sept.2016 when the lawsuit was first presented.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman and his firm Omega Advisors Inc settled out of court with America's financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over an insider trading lawsuit brought against them.

Thursday's 18th May settlement ends that process, and avoids a trial that had been scheduled for November 6. Federal court judge approval of the settlement is still required.

Cooperman and Omega did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, which includes $2.76 mn of fines.

A month after the SEC lawsuit was filed, Goldman Sachs decided to withdraw assets and stop having him manage about $300 mn for its employee retirement fund.

Omega has also suffered, with assets under management falling to about $3.6 bn as of March 31 from about $5.4 bn when the SEC sued in Sept.2016, and $10.4 bn two years before that.

The 73-year-old Cooperman, a former Goldman Sachs exececutive is the most prominent financier to be charged with insider trading in decades. Cooperman is worth $3 bn, according to Forbes magazine. 

The $4.9 mn in fines and forfeiture is a relatively piddly sum for a man who made $225 mn last year, according to Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine.

Mr. Cooperman’s lawyers, Daniel Kramer and Theodore Wells at Paul Weiss, said in a statement, “We and our clients are very pleased with this outcome, which speaks for itself.”

The SEC says, he will continue to break the law. Therefore a requirement that an independent consultant monitor Omega trading activity for the next five years to 2022.

Facts of The Case: 

Filed in a Pennsylvania, USA federal court, alleging insider trading in Atlas securities.

The decision by Judge Sánchez could set a legal precedent about the responsibilities that individuals who work outside of a publicly-traded company have toward that company when making an agreement to keep confidential company details under wraps.

Cooperman, the founder CEO of Omega Advisors, is accused of making dozens of trades in Atlas Pipeline Partners securities in 2010, netting profits of $4 million, after learning from a company insider that the troubled oil and gas company was on the verge of a merger deal

Cooperman learned from an insider that Atlas was preparing a sale of one of its operations, and he began to buy up the company’s shares, options, and bonds, the SEC says. Any corporate merger and acquisition (M&A) involving a public company can have insider-trading associated with it.

The SEC accuses Cooperman of trying to cover up his conversations and, according to its initial complaint filed in September, has three witnesses to bolster its case.

The SEC has argued that Cooperman "misappropriated" information from an Atlas executive about the sale of the Atlas Pipeline unit.

Cooperman's lawyers want the case thrown out arguing that he may have "broken a promise," if indeed he agreed not to trade on the information, but that he had not broken insider trading laws. A "promise" is within the scope of law about disclosure and confidentiality.

In an unusual move, the SEC threw in minor charges alleging more than 40 instances where Omega flouted reporting requirements regarding its ownership of other stocks — a seeming attempt to show disregard for the rules.

The case is replete with allegations of broken confidentiality, dozens of suspect trades and a pattern of misconduct; at least three government witnesses confirming Cooperman’s alleged misdeeds; and even an alleged cover-up.