Last Friday, the SEC formally filed civil charges against Steven A. Cohen that could ultimately bar him from the financial industry. Today, the SEC scheduled Cohen's hearing, which will take place Aug. 26 at the SEC's D.C. headquarters, rather than a courtroom.
According to Bloomberg, the Wall Street billionaire has seen his SAC Capital Advisors group of hedge funds return a remarkable 25% per year since 1992, as Cohen himself was charging record 50% fees on the sizable profits each year.
The SEC isn't actually charging Cohen himself with insider trading or securities fraud; it claims only that Cohen failed to supervise underlings as they engaged in what the SEC claims was blatant insider trading. This is the first time the SEC has gone after Cohen directly; SAC Capital, however, has had a tough year with regulators, ponying up more than $600 million -- a record penalty -- in March to settle a separate SEC case claiming SAC traded using privileged information.
After hearing testimony on Aug. 26, an administrative judge will issue a decision, which can then be appealed. The repercussions could be dire for Cohen, whom the SEC is seeking to "ban from the financial industry for life," according to Bloomberg. Lawyers for the hedge fund titan were quick to fire back against the SEC charges, circulating a memo on Monday to SAC employees that vehemently denied wrongdoing and called the claims "baseless," according to The Wall Street Journal, which obtained a copy of the detailed denial.
