Post by jannikki on Sept 22, 2006 17:36:06 GMT -4
U.S. drops case against ex-NYSE specialist
Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:26pm ET170
U.S. drops case against ex-NYSE specialist
CORRECTED - Government drops case against ex-NYSE specialist
NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Prosecutors have dropped a criminal securities fraud charge against former New York Stock Exchange specialist Kevin Fee, who had been slated to go on trial on Oct. 3, court documents showed.
"Based on a review of the evidence in the case and information pertaining to this defendant subsequent to the filing of the indictment, it has been concluded that further prosecution of Kevin Fee would not be in the interests of justice," the document, dated Thursday, said.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York had no comment.
Prosecutors had charged Fee and 14 other former specialists, or floor traders, at the NYSE with fraud in March for their role in an alleged scheme in which prosecutors said they made illegal trades to enrich themselves and their firms at their customers' expense.
"We are obviously thrilled and we are gratified that the prosecutors came to the conclusion that Mr. Fee was innocent," said his lawyer, Kathryn Zecca, of Robbins Russell Englert Orseck & Untereiner LLP. "There was not any basis for charging him."
Of the 15 traders arrested, so far two have pleaded guilty, two have been acquitted and two were convicted.
U.S. prosecutors accused the specialists of violating securities law by trading ahead of -- or in between -- customer orders, generating millions in illegal profits between January 1999 and April 2003.
Specialists have access to buy and sell orders streaming into the NYSE for the stocks they handle, giving them an advantage over others who do not see that information.
Under exchange rules, they are only allowed to trade for their firms' accounts to dampen volatility or add liquidity.
Fee, 38, was a specialist with the Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unit Bear Wagner Specialists. He was suspended without pay at the time the charges were leveled against him.
NYSE Group Inc. (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is the parent of the New York Stock Exchange.
Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:26pm ET170
U.S. drops case against ex-NYSE specialist
CORRECTED - Government drops case against ex-NYSE specialist
NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Prosecutors have dropped a criminal securities fraud charge against former New York Stock Exchange specialist Kevin Fee, who had been slated to go on trial on Oct. 3, court documents showed.
"Based on a review of the evidence in the case and information pertaining to this defendant subsequent to the filing of the indictment, it has been concluded that further prosecution of Kevin Fee would not be in the interests of justice," the document, dated Thursday, said.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York had no comment.
Prosecutors had charged Fee and 14 other former specialists, or floor traders, at the NYSE with fraud in March for their role in an alleged scheme in which prosecutors said they made illegal trades to enrich themselves and their firms at their customers' expense.
"We are obviously thrilled and we are gratified that the prosecutors came to the conclusion that Mr. Fee was innocent," said his lawyer, Kathryn Zecca, of Robbins Russell Englert Orseck & Untereiner LLP. "There was not any basis for charging him."
Of the 15 traders arrested, so far two have pleaded guilty, two have been acquitted and two were convicted.
U.S. prosecutors accused the specialists of violating securities law by trading ahead of -- or in between -- customer orders, generating millions in illegal profits between January 1999 and April 2003.
Specialists have access to buy and sell orders streaming into the NYSE for the stocks they handle, giving them an advantage over others who do not see that information.
Under exchange rules, they are only allowed to trade for their firms' accounts to dampen volatility or add liquidity.
Fee, 38, was a specialist with the Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unit Bear Wagner Specialists. He was suspended without pay at the time the charges were leveled against him.
NYSE Group Inc. (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is the parent of the New York Stock Exchange.