Bill Hwang guilty of illegal trading at Tiger Asia Management
Bill Hwang of hedge fund Tiger Asia Management admits illegally trading millions of shares in US$60m settlement
Tiger Asia Management, the New York-based hedge fund run by Bill Hwang, admitted illegally using inside information to trade Chinese bank stocks and agreed to criminal and civil settlements of more than US$60 million.
Hwang entered the guilty plea for Tiger Asia Wednesday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, admitting the company used nonpublic information by selling short shares of Bank of China and China Construction Bank. Tiger Asia agreed to forfeit US$16.3 million to resolve the criminal case.
Tiger Asia Management, Hwang, Tiger Asia Partners and former head trader Raymond YH Park also will pay US$44 million to settle a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit filed Wednesday. Tiger Asia used inside information received through private placement offerings to engage in short selling of the two banks, the agency said.
"Hwang today learned the painful lesson that illegal offshore trading is not off limits from US law enforcement," Robert Khuzami, the SEC enforcement director, said in a statement.
US District Judge Stanley Chesler placed Tiger Asia on probation for one year. He said the US$16.3 million represents the total illicit gain in the criminal case for the trades in December 2008 and January 2009.