SEC Charges Bermudian Investment Adviser and Principal for Illegal Short Selling
On January 31, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Revelation Capital Management Ltd. ("Revelation Capital") and its principal, Christopher P.C. Kuchanny ("Kuchanny") alleging illegal short selling. Kuchanny, who resides in Hamilton Parish, Bermuda, is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer and sole shareholder of Revelation Capital, an exempt reporting adviser with its principal place of business in Pembroke, Bermuda.
Rule 105 is designed to prevent potentially manipulative short selling just prior to the pricing of follow-on and secondary offerings, thereby facilitating offering prices determined by independent market forces. Rule 105 prohibits any person who makes a short sale of securities during a defined restricted period prior to the pricing of that offering from purchasing the same securities in that offering. The Rule is prophylactic and prohibits the conduct irrespective of the short seller's intent in effecting the short sale.
Revelation Capital and Kuchanny violated Rule 105 in connection with Central Fund of Canada Limited's ("Central Fund") November 2009 offering by short selling Central Fund securities during the restricted period and then purchasing the same securities in Central Fund's offering. According to the complaint, defendants' profits from this illegal trading totaled $1,368,243. The Commission seeks permanent injunctions against each defendant, and disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties against each defendant.
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