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☆ Man Group taps former Gladstone partner Sumant Wahi for a new stock-picking strategy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Sumant Wahi started at Man Group's GLG unit Monday. The former Gladstone partner is going to run a stock-picking strategy focused on tech companies. Wahi previously ran a tech-focused strategy for Fidelity International. London-based Man Group has added to its roster of investment talent to start the new year. The $161 billion investment manager — one of the few publicly traded hedge fund managers — has hired former Gladstone partner Sumant Wahi to run a tech-focused stock-picking strategy.

Persons: Sumant Wahi, Gladstone, Wahi, — Organizations: Fidelity International . London, Gladstone, Business

It was an English player's night in the Champions League, even as both of the English teams in action lost. It was the second Champions League game in a row where Bellingham played a vital role for Madrid after scoring the winning goal against Union Berlin. United has conceded seven goals in its opening two Champions League games after losing its opener 4-3 to Bayern Munich last month. The French team last won a Champions League game back in 2002 against AC Milan and hadn't qualified for Europe's top club competition again until this season. Real Sociedad had a smoother time as it picked up its first Champions League win for 20 years, beating Salzburg 2-0 on first-half goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Méndez.

Persons: Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Alex Meret —, Bellingham, Carlo Ancelotti, Rasmus Højlund —, Erik ten Hag, United, Casemiro, —, Mauro Icardi, Elye Wahi, Gabriel Jesus, Wahi, Adrien Thomasson, Declan Rice, “, hadn't, Bayern's Jamal Musiala, Lukas Lerager, Thomas Müller, Sven Ulreich, Bayern hasn't, André Castro, Sheraldo Becker, Castro, Mikel Oyarzabal, Méndez, Marcus Thuram, ___ Organizations: Champions League, Real Madrid, Napoli, Manchester United, Arsenal, Galatasaray, Lens, Madrid, Union Berlin, Borussia Dortmund, Turkish, United, League, Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven, French, AC Milan, Europe's, Bayern, Danish, Tel, Braga, Jude Bellingham ., PSV, Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Salzburg, season's, Inter Milan, Benfica, Sociedad Locations: English, England, Bellingham, Copenhagen, Madrid, Jude Bellingham . Union

The logo of non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea is seen through a magnifying glass amid NFT items displayed on its website, in this illustration picture taken February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge sentenced a former product manager at OpenSea, the world's largest marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to three months in prison on Tuesday for buying NFTs he knew would soon be featured on the site's home page. Nathaniel Chastain, 33, was convicted of fraud and money laundering in federal court in Manhattan in May for what prosecutors called the first insider trading case involving digital assets. Chastain's attorneys had asked for no prison time, saying he had already lost his reputation, job and equity in OpenSea worth millions of dollars. Prosecutors unsealed charges against Chastain in June 2022, after a boom in NFT sales saw the market grow to about $40 billion in 2021.

Persons: Florence Lo, Nathaniel Chastain, Chastain, Ishan Wahi, OpenSea, Jody Godoy, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, Prosecutors, Global Inc, Court, Southern District of, Thomson Locations: U.S, OpenSea, Manhattan, Southern District, Southern District of New York, New York

In each case, Coinbase filed briefs as an "amicus," or friend of the court. A ruling favoring another crypto defendant at the trial court level would not be binding on Coinbase's own case, but the company could potentially point to it in its defense, legal experts said. Coinbase argued the digital assets on its platform do not pass that test, in part because they lack contractual agreements. In its other amicus brief, Coinbase urged a federal judge in Manhattan to allow the fair notice defense in the SEC case against Ripple Labs, which was the industry's highest-profile battle with the regulator prior to the Coinbase case. Coinbase argued to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that denying the Ripple defendants the fair notice defense "would jeopardize the validity of the defense in future cases."

Persons: Coinbase, Gibson Dunn, Crutcher, Akiva Shapiro, Gary Gensler, Paul Grewal, Coinbase's, Cahill Gordon, Reindel, Tana Lin, Ishan Wahi, Wahi, Lin, Gensler, Analisa Torres, Torres, XRP, Jody Godoy, Tom Hals, Deepa Babington Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, Supreme, SEC, Reuters, FAIR, U.S . Constitution, Ripple Labs, San, District, Thomson Locations: U.S, Coinbase, Manhattan, Solana, Cardano, Seattle, U.S ., San Francisco, New York, Wilmington , Delaware

Companies Coinbase Global Inc FollowMay 30 (Reuters) - A former product manager for Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) and his brother have agreed to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges related to insider trading of crypto asset securities. A lawyer for Ishan Wahi declined to comment on the settlement. Ishan Wahi was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month. In January, Nikhil Wahi was sentenced to 10 months in prison. In pleading guilty to the criminal charges, Ishan Wahi said he did not believe any of the relevant tokens were securities.

Persons: Ishan Wahi, Nikhil Wahi, Gurbir Grewal, Nikhil, ”, Kanishka Singh, Chris Prentice, Hannah Lang, Bill Berkrot, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Coinbase, Coinbase Global Inc, U.S, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Thomson

☆ Ex-Coinbase Worker Gets Two-Year Prison Term in First Cryptocurrency Insider-Trading Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Crypto imploded in 2022, as investors lost faith in digital assets and the industry was plagued with crisis. But unlike other collapses, it has largely avoided rippling into other markets. Illustration: Mallory BranganA former Coinbase employee was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in what federal prosecutors called the first-ever insider-trading case involving cryptocurrency. Ishan Wahi , 32 years old, previously pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for tipping off his brother and a friend to confidential information that he gained at his job at the crypto exchange. The tip recipients, co-defendants in the case, used the information to trade on digital tokens, making nearly $1.5 million in profits, according to federal prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.

Companies Coinbase Global Inc FollowNEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - Ishan Wahi, a former Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) product manager, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison in what U.S. prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska sentenced Ishan Wahi, 32, in Manhattan federal court after the defendant pleaded guilty in February to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty in September to a wire fraud conspiracy charge, and in January was sentenced to 10 months in prison. At Tuesday's hearing, Ishan Wahi expressed remorse for his actions and their effect on his friends and family, several of whom were in court. Prosecutors had called for Ishan Wahi to spend more than three years in prison to deter other cryptocurrency insiders from misusing corporate information.

☆ Coinbase, crypto industry hope new Supreme Court doctrine is silver bullet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But the agency will have to provide a more detailed response if Ripple, Coinbase or crypto groups that have filed friend-of-the-court briefs pushing major questions doctrine arguments manage to pique a judge’s interest. Former Coinbase manager Ishan Wahi expanded on the major questions theory last February in his motion to dismiss the SEC’s insider trading case. Under the major questions doctrine, they said, the SEC does not have the requisite Congressional authority to regulate digital assets. Coinbase’s contention in that paper, released last Thursday, is all-encompassing: The major questions doctrine, according to Coinbase counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell, “forecloses” regulation of the trillion-dollar crypto industry. But if the SEC moves ahead with a case against Coinbase, the major questions doctrine could turn out to be, well, a major question.

☆ Coinbase Ex-Manager Convicted of Insider Trading Is Crypto’s Latest Legal Hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Securities and Exchange Commission has told Coinbase it is likely to recommend enforcement action against the company over listing assets that regulators believe are securities. WASHINGTON—Crypto has picked an unlikely ally in its battle against oversight by Wall Street’s chief regulator: a former Coinbase Global Inc. employee convicted of insider trading. Ishan Wahi, a former manager at Coinbase, pleaded guilty this year to giving his brother and a college friend trading tips that generated almost $1.5 million in illicit profits. An Indian immigrant, he could serve more than three years in prison and be deported after doing time.

☆ Coinbase Insider-Trading Case Spearheads Crypto’s Latest Bid to Avoid SEC Oversight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Eric Lee for The Wall Street JournalThe Securities and Exchange Commission has told Coinbase it is likely to recommend enforcement action against the company over listing assets that regulators believe are securities. WASHINGTON—Crypto has picked an unlikely ally in its battle against oversight by Wall Street’s chief regulator: a former Coinbase Global Inc. employee convicted of insider trading. Ishan Wahi, a former manager at Coinbase, pleaded guilty this year to giving his brother and a college friend trading tips that generated almost $1.5 million in illicit profits. An Indian immigrant, he could serve more than three years in prison and be deported after doing time.

☆ Trade group argues U.S. SEC case unfairly labels crypto as securities
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency trade association Chamber of Digital Commerce is urging a federal court to dismiss a case brought by the U.S. securities regulator against ex-Coinbase (COIN.O) employees accused of insider trading, arguing that the case unfairly labeled several crypto assets as securities. The Blockchain Association also filed an amicus brief in the case earlier this month. The crypto industry has previously criticized the SEC for bringing enforcement cases against digital asset companies, arguing that the regulator should instead engage in formal rulemaking specific to cryptocurrency. The SEC has maintained that pre-existing securities laws also apply to digital assets, and that many crypto tokens meet the definition of a security. The move would also likely hurt the value of those tokens, which could harm retail investors, the group said.

☆ Sorry crypto world, but SEC isn’t backing down on ‘regulation by enforcement’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Right now, Wahi argued, crypto users are simply left guessing about their exposure to SEC enforcement — and that's not sustainable. That strategy, Hodl Law asserted, didn't give token-holders fair notice about whether their coins are securities. Otherwise, Hodl Law said, Ethereum users have no idea if the SEC will swoop in with an enforcement action. The SEC also said that it's not obliged to warn crypto users about its interpretation of securities laws. It also, however, provides the first robust explanation of an argument I expect to see more often in SEC crypto cases: SEC enforcement, according to Wahi, is precluded by the Supreme Court’s recently articulated major questions doctrine.

Ishan Wahi, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, after initially pleading not guilty last year. "I knew that Sameer Ramani and Nikhil Wahi would use that information to make trading decisions," Ishan Wahi said during Tuesday's hearing in federal court in Manhattan. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors stipulated that sentencing guidelines called for Ishan Wahi to be imprisoned for between 36 and 47 months. In pleading guilty to the criminal charges on Tuesday, Ishan Wahi said he did not believe any of the relevant tokens were securities. Noah Solowiejczyk, a prosecutor, said the question of whether or not the tokens are securities was not an element of prosecutors' case.

☆ Ex-Coinbase Staffer Pleads Guilty in First Crypto Insider-Trading Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Corinne Ramey | James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A former Coinbase Global Inc. employee pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in what prosecutors said was the first cryptocurrency insider-trading case. Ishan Wahi , 32 years old, told U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska that he had conspired with others to misappropriate valuable confidential information that he gained from his job at Coinbase. His brother, Nikhil Wahi , and an associate then used that information to make trades on digital tokens, he said.

☆ First Cryptocurrency Insider-Trading Case Yields 10-Month Prison Term
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The brother of a former Coinbase Global Inc. employee was sentenced in a New York federal court Tuesday to 10 months in prison for his role in what prosecutors called the first cryptocurrency insider-trading scheme. Nikhil Wahi , 27 years old, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, admitting to profiting from confidential information that federal prosecutors say his brother obtained about assets to be listed on the crypto exchange. Mr. Wahi netted nearly $900,000 in proceeds by using the information to trade on digital tokens, according to prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.

☆ Ex-Coinbase manager's brother sentenced to 10 months in insider trading case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nikhil Wahi admitted last year that he made trades based on confidential Coinbase information. Ishan Wahi has pleaded not guilty. Two of his closest associates, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Prosecutors had recommended Nikhil Wahi be sentenced to between 10 and 16 months in prison, arguing that he earned nearly $900,000 in profits from the scheme. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Bankman-Fried fraud charges sidestep debate over how U.S. law sees crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"It's a pretty simple deception," said Shane Stansbury, a professor at Duke University School of Law and former Manhattan federal prosecutor. The debate matters to cryptocurrency companies because it could determine which agency regulates the trading of digital assets. Both have pleaded not guilty and argued the charges should be dismissed because insider trading charges must involve securities or commodities. In bringing wire fraud charges in both cases, prosecutors avoided taking a position on how cryptocurrencies or NFTs should be classified. It is unlikely Bankman-Fried's lawyers will attempt a similar argument because the wire fraud charges are more straightforward, Kasten said.

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