Single Winner of All Bitcoins in U.S. Auction

Posted on by admin

BrokerDealer.com/blog update courtesy of extracts from today’s NYT DealBook

The United States Marshals Service announced on Tuesday that one bidder had won all of the nearly 30,000 Bitcoins auctioned on Friday.

“The U.S. Marshals Bitcoin auction resulted in one winning bidder,” Lynzey Donahue, a spokeswoman for the Marshals Service, said in a statement. “The transfer of the Bitcoins to the winner was completed today,”

bitt

But the Marshals Service did not identify the winner or disclose the winning bid.

In instructions on its website and to bidders, the Marshals Service had said it would alert both winners and losers of the auction on Monday by 5 p.m. Eastern time. The deadline for winning bidders to transfer funds to the agency, according to the website, was 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

At least a handful of bidders were sent emails on Monday notifying them that they had not won the auction. So far, many prominent bidders have said they were outbid, including a syndicate run by SecondMarket, Pantera Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Shop and Coinbase. Rangeley Capital and Alex Waters at CoinApex also said they did not win any Bitcoins.

“While we are disappointed that our syndicate did not emerge as a winner in the auction, we are pleased to see such strong interest from other bidders,” Barry Silbert, chief of SecondMarket, said in a statement on Monday. “The auction was a clear success and the result quite positive for Bitcoin.” Mr. Silbert said his syndicate had received 186 bids from 42 bidders.

The Marshals Service said on Monday that 45 registered bidders had participated in the event and that the agency had received 63 bids over the course of the auction.

Since the Marshals Service first announced the auction in early June, there have been a number of missteps. A list of potential bidders was accidentally released on June 18 in an email from the agency. And apparent typographical errors in the initial instructions posted on the Marshals Service’s website made it unclear when the registration deadlines were.

Some bidders also said other aspects of the process had been vague. Mr. Waters, for example, said on Monday that he had bid on one block of 3,000 Bitcoins at $403 each, far below the market price of Bitcoin, because he thought syndicates would not be permitted by the Marshals Service.

The full article can be found at NYT DealBook.

Rottapharm, an Italian Drug Maker, Sets Price Range for IPO

Posted on by admin

BrokerDealer.com/blog update courtesy of extracts from today’s NYT DealBook

LONDON — The Italian drug maker Rottapharm said on Tuesday that it expected an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares later this month to value the company at up to 1.8 million euros, or about $2.46 billion.

ROTTAPHARM

Rottapharm, which operates under the name Rottapharm|Madaus, said that it expected to price its offering of 50 million shares at €7.25 to €9 a share. The bottom end of the price range would value the company at about €1.45 billion.

The offering represents about 25 percent of Rottapharm’s share capital, and it expects to list on the Mercato Telematico Azionario of the Borsa Italiana exchange in Milan. The company said on Tuesday that Italian securities regulators had signed off on its listing.

“Through the IPO, we will have the opportunity to present to the financial community the innovative and distinctive values of our business model,” Luca Rovati, Rottapharm’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Our entry into the capital markets is consistent with our growth strategy through new acquisitions, the launch of new products and expansion into new markets.”

About 5 percent of the offering, or about 2.5 million shares, will be sold to retail investors in Italy. The rest will be sold to institutional investors. The offer can be increased by up to another 10 million shares, depending on demand.

The shares are being sold by an investment vehicle controlled by the Rovati family, Rottapharm’s owners. The family will remain the drug maker’s largest shareholder after the offering.

The offer period is expected to end on July 10.

Founded in 1961, Rottapharm is the maker of Dona, which is used to manage pain associated with osteoarthritis; Legalon, a treatment for liver disorders; and Reparil, an anti-inflammatory and pain reducer. The company employs more than 2,000 employees in 85 countries worldwide.

The full article can be found at NYT DealBook.

Finra Boots Out Broker-Dealer, Bars CEO for Ponzi Scheme Targeting Pro Athletes

Posted on by admin

BrokerDealer.com blog update courtesy of InvestmentNews.com (subscription required, free registration)

Firm, chief executive ordered to pay $13.7 million in restitution to 59 investors

Finra has barred a broker-dealer and its founder for allegedly defrauding a number of current and former NFL and NBA players out of nearly $14 million as part of a Ponzi scheme.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. expelled Success Trade Securities, an online brokerage, and its founder, Fuad Ahmed, for raising money for the company parent company, Success Trade Inc., through purportedly fake promissory notes.

The notes typically had a 12.5% interest rate and had a term of 36 months, according to Finra. Because of the financial condition of the parent company, there was little chance they would be paid back, Finra said. Instead, the funds went to pay Mr. Ahmed’s personal expenses, including the lease on a Range Rover and balances on personal credit cards and clothes, Finra alleged.

A report from Yahoo Sports last year noted that clients who bought Success Trades’ notes included Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Knight, Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden, San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, former Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis and Chicago Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye.

When the notes became due, Mr. Ahmed attempted to persuade the investors to extend the terms, in some cases promising that the company would be listing on a European stock exchange soon. Continue reading →

BrokerDealer Community Faces New Audit Standards By Public Company Oversight Board

Posted on by admin

PCAOB Issues Guidance for Broker-Dealer Auditors

BrokerDealer.com/blog update courtesy of extracts from accountingtoday’s news article

accounting todayThe Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has released staff guidance to help auditors of brokers and dealers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to plan and perform audits in accordance with PCAOB standards as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act and SEC rules.

T he Dodd-Frank Act amended the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to, among other things, give the PCAOB oversight authority for the audits of broker-dealers registered with the SEC.

“To enhance investor protection, broker-dealer auditors must now meet PCAOB requirements,” said PCAOB chairman James R. Doty in a statement. “This guidance is tailored to help auditors of smaller broker-dealers develop a cost-effective, scaled approach to their audits.”

Last year, the SEC revised Exchange Act Rule 17a-5 to entail, among other things, audits of broker-dealers was conducted in accordance with PCAOB standards. In October, the PCAOB implemented an auditing standard along with two attestation benchmarks that apply to broker-dealer audits. Then in February, the SEC issued an order to take approval from the PCAOB’s new auditing and attestation standards for the audits of brokers and dealers.

The amendments of SEC and standards of PCAOB are effective for fiscal years ending on or after June 1, 2014. Former to the effective date, those broker-dealer audits were taken under general auditing standards.

In order to help auditors with the transition, the staff guidance helps to find relevant requirements for SEC-registered brokers and dealers audits, attestation processes, and provides helpful insights on the application of PCAOB standards to these processes. Furthermore, the publication shows up major prerequisites of SEC Rule 17a-5 and PCAOB standards.

“Auditors of broker-dealers are now subject to new requirements, including the requirement to apply PCAOB standards,” said PCAOB chief auditor Martin F. Baumann. This publication discusses how audits can be scaled, based on the size and complexity of the broker-dealer, to apply PCAOB standards and fulfill their important role of helping to protect customers of broker-dealers.”

Publication is available at PCAOB’s official website

Xinhua Unit Is On Track for IPO; China News Agency Goes Public

Posted on by admin

BrokerDealer.com blog extends thanks to the Wall Street Journal’s Shen Hong for providing coverage regarding the Xinhua News Agency initial public offering. See below link for full story. in Wall Street Journal today’s article.

SHANGHAI—China’s official news service is on track for an initial public offering of its digital arm, as Beijing seeks to transform its staid propaganda organs into modernized entities.

If the plan proceeds, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency would become the second of the Communist Party’s state-run media outlets to sell stock to the public, following the IPO two years ago of People.cn Co. 603000.SH -3.31%, the website of the authorities’ flagship newspaper, the People’s Daily.

In recent years, Beijing has encouraged its state-run media to tap the capital markets for funds and to use modern tools to boost the influence of the propaganda machines that it has used for decades to deliver its message to the Chinese people. Analysts say the government also hopes its propaganda arms can help it to promote “soft power”—cultural heft around the world through media such as movies and television shows—as well as to develop a thriving domestic media industry.

Xinhuanet Co., which operates the 83-year-old news agency’s main website Xinhuanet.com, released the preliminary IPO prospectus for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on the Chinese securities regulator’s website late Friday. Continue reading →