Page 26 - 期貨和衍生品行業(yè)監管動(dòng)態(tài)（2024年3月）
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期貨和衍生品行業(yè)監管動(dòng)態(tài)
The complaint alleges that Natrop and Renner, who were friends and business
associates of Cook’s, purchased Tallgrass call options on August 8 and 9, 2019, which
resulted in illicit profits of $43,862 for Natrop and $13,520 for Renner. The complaint
further alleges that Cook tipped Rudolph while the two were in the Bahamas
celebrating Rudolph’s birthday on Rudolph’s yacht and that Rudolph purchased
Tallgrass stock on August 6, 2019, which resulted in illicit profits of $31,035. The
complaint also alleges that Cook tipped Williams, his long-time friend and personal
accountant, and that Williams purchased call options on August 19 and 21, 2019,
which resulted in illicit profits of $463,000.
Following the August 27 announcement, which saw Tallgrass shares increase by
36 percent, Cook served for several months as chair of a Tallgrass Conflicts
Committee tasked with assessing Blackstone’s offer and negotiating the final terms of
the transaction. In connection with this role, Cook allegedly learned material
nonpublic information about the status of the negotiations that he communicated to
Williams, who purchased Tallgrass stock in a Cook family trust account over which
he had trading authority, resulting in $88,800 of illicit profits for Cook. The complaint
further alleges that, on December 10, 2019, while on vacation in Chile, Cook tipped
Williams more material nonpublic information about the status of the negotiations,
and Williams purchased more call options in his personal account, resulting in
additional illicit profits of $61,525.
“As our complaint alleges, Roy Cook took advantage of his position as a
Tallgrass director to repeatedly enrich himself and his friends,” said Mark Cave,
Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “We will hold accountable
board members and others who misuse inside information for their own benefit and
violate the trust placed in them by shareholders.”
The SEC complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Wisconsin, charges the defendants with violating the antifraud provisions of the
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