RE: New Moulding Linked In post18 Aug 2023 12:42
"maybe it’s just the usual summer lull. regulators are enjoying their holidays like everyone. but let’s hope any day now the fca is ready to pounce!
the us authorities fiercely protect their markets. a tough stance is essential in maintaining confidence in the world’s largest market. each year there are stories of hedge funds and bankers being arrested while on their holidays, and shipped to the us to face the music.
if the lse is to ever pull out of its death spiral, then the uk needs to follow suit. a lack of action only feeds global sentiment that london is a backwater, a soft touch, where rogue investment bankers and hedge funds go unchecked in plundering the market for personal gain.
in feb this year, a us hedge fund called *****essential launched a stinging short attack against uk listed darktrace. *****essential published a 70-page report, filled with wild allegations of corruption against darktrace, it’s management team and investors. ahead of launching the attack, the hedge fund made a c£25m bet that darktrace shares would fall. hmm…
and so, *****essential sold c£25m of shares in darktrace it didn’t own, a bizarre but legal transaction which is banned in some countries. the cost of making a £25m bet like this is likely just c£2k a day until the bet is closed.
because it’s so cheap, the returns are spectacular when shares fall. for pennies, you can make hundreds of millions by wreaking havoc against a company and its share price. hence, rogue bankers and hedge funds show no limits, often with the help of some friendly media.
through wild claims they create fear, panic and a stampede, making shares plummet. the ill-gotten gains are usually funnelled offshore to tax havens without a trace. billions are fleeced from the uk market this way each year.
six months after *****essential’s attack, an independent review by ey confirmed the wild allegations had no basis and that darktrace is a uk tech darling after all.
despite millions lost by uk investors everyone is eerily quiet on the whole saga. where is the media crying foul, calling on the fca, sfo or even mps to act? nada.
maybe the lse itself will act? nope. i spoke with the ceo of the lse 18 months ago, and asked why it doesn’t act against the well-known rogue hedge funds and bankers. the answer was astonishing: “the fca can see everything we see, and so it’s for them to take action, not us”. after all, the lse is just a website portal, like rightmove or autotrader. right?
the stampede of companies exiting the lse is matched by investors. the only real ipo so far in 2023 is cab payments - it’s already lost c30% in 4 weeks! companies and investors simply aren’t safe anymore. this is a common view across global investors. what do you expect? their pockets are picked daily and their expected to ignore it?
like the regulators, i’ve been enjoying family time in the sun (see pics). i’m more than ready to build on thg's great pro
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