How long would you sit in jail for $1 billion?

May 11, 2011 Attain Capital 1 Comment  Like
Off Topic

The news story dominating the airwaves is the guilty verdict delivered today for one Raj Rajaratnam- the infamous hedge fund chief who was taken to task for alleged insider trading in 2009. He was found guilty of 5 counts of conspiracy and 9 counts of securities fraud, which theoretically, if maximum sentencing and fines take place, could add up to $1.2 billion in fines and 205 years in jail.

Will that happen? Probably not. Experts predict 19 years of jail time, and given that the other players in the scheme have been assessed a maximum fee of around $60 million… Raj, a former Forbes billionaire, could end up with a large chunk of his net worth still intact post-fines (if he ever gets out of jail).

We don’t know whether or not he made all of that money illegally. 12 fine folks in the state of New York came to the consensus that at least a portion of his wealth was comprised of ill-gotten gains. But the question remains… would you trade 19 years of your life for over a billion dollars? Even if you only got to enjoy a portion of it?

Many hungry Wall Street types would likely say yes- and have in the past. If you have the right lawyer, after all, you could get away with it. For some, it’s worth a gamble.

Funny (or scary) thing in commodities – there is no such thing as insider trading. There are restrictions against front running customer orders, bunch orders, etc. – but nothing to keep an OPEC member from buying a few thousand Oil futures before they announce plans to cut output, someone with access to unemployment numbers from buying bond futures before their release, and so on….but we’ll save that topic for another day.


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  1. Behind Enemy Lines? Inside Occupy Wall Street | Cogent CommentCogent Comment
    April 6, 2013

    […] without coming face-to-face with some of the very issues being highlighted. Just today, hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajartnam, after being found guilty of 5 counts of conspiracy and 9 counts of securities fraud, found […]

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See the full terms of use and risk disclaimer here.

Disclaimer
The performance data displayed herein is compiled from various sources, including BarclayHedge, and reports directly from the advisors. These performance figures should not be relied on independent of the individual advisor's disclosure document, which has important information regarding the method of calculation used, whether or not the performance includes proprietary results, and other important footnotes on the advisor's track record.

The programs listed here are a sub-set of the full list of programs able to be accessed by subscribing to the database and reflect programs we currently work with and/or are more familiar with.

Benchmark index performance is for the constituents of that index only, and does not represent the entire universe of possible investments within that asset class. And further, that there can be limitations and biases to indices such as survivorship, self reporting, and instant history. Individuals cannot invest in the index itself, and actual rates of return may be significantly different and more volatile than those of the index.

Managed futures accounts can subject to substantial charges for management and advisory fees. The numbers within this website include all such fees, but it may be necessary for those accounts that are subject to these charges to make substantial trading profits in the future to avoid depletion or exhaustion of their assets.

Investors interested in investing with a managed futures program (excepting those programs which are offered exclusively to qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7) will be required to receive and sign off on a disclosure document in compliance with certain CFT rules The disclosure documents contains a complete description of the principal risk factors and each fee to be charged to your account by the CTA, as well as the composite performance of accounts under the CTA's management over at least the most recent five years. Investor interested in investing in any of the programs on this website are urged to carefully read these disclosure documents, including, but not limited to the performance information, before investing in any such programs.

Those investors who are qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7 and interested in investing in a program exempt from having to provide a disclosure document and considered by the regulations to be sophisticated enough to understand the risks and be able to interpret the accuracy and completeness of any performance information on their own.

RCM receives a portion of the commodity brokerage commissions you pay in connection with your futures trading and/or a portion of the interest income (if any) earned on an account's assets. The listed manager may also pay RCM a portion of the fees they receive from accounts introduced to them by RCM.

Limitations on RCM Quintile + Star Rankings

The Quintile Rankings and RCM Star Rankings shown here are provided for informational purposes only. RCM does not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The ranking methodology is proprietary and the results have not been audited or verified by an independent third party. Some CTAs may employ trading programs or strategies that are riskier than others. CTAs may manage customer accounts differently than their model results shown or make different trades in actual customer accounts versus their own accounts. Different CTAs are subject to different market conditions and risks that can significantly impact actual results. RCM and its affiliates receive compensation from some of the rated CTAs. Investors should perform their own due diligence before investing with any CTA. This ranking information should not be the sole basis for any investment decision.

See the full terms of use and risk disclaimer here.

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