A trader in Switzerland has agreed to pay more than US$2.8 million to settle allegations of illegal insider trading from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC announced on Monday that Helmut Anscheringer has agreed to settle charges that he traded on non-public information ahead of the acquisition of a Melbourne, Fla.-based biometrics company by technology giant Apple Inc. After the deal was announced, the company’s stock price gained approximately 60% from the previous day.
The SEC’s investigation found that Anscheringer purchased stock and call options in AuthenTec Inc. after learning from a longtime friend related to an executive at AuthenTec that Apple was proposing to buy the company. The SEC says Anscheringer earned more than US$1.8 million in illicit profits from his trading.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Anscheringer agreed to pay disgorgement of $1.8 million, a penalty of over $900,000, and prejudgment interest of $121,732 for a total of $2.85 million. He also agreed to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.
The SEC notes that its investigation is ongoing.
“Anscheringer attempted to profit by freely trading on inside information,” said Glenn Gordon, associate director of the SEC’s Miami office. “Foreign traders in U.S. stocks are not exempt from SEC scrutiny as we traced the misconduct back to Anscheringer when investigating these significant purchases in a trading account belonging to an entity in the British Virgin Islands for which he was listed as the beneficiary.”