ACKMAN AND VALEANT TO FACE INSIDER TRADING CHARGES

It’s like his whole world is being tossed on its head and someone is jumping on it, trying to break his neck.

We all know what Ackman and Valeant did in their attempts to acquire AGN were fucked up and constituted insider trading. However, last year was the year of Bill and nothing went wrong for him then.

But this year is different.

Valeant and Ackman said there was no intent to defraud, and that they breached no duties by sharing information before the takeover bid became public.
But the judge, without ruling on the merits, found “serious questions” as to whether “substantial steps” had been taken toward a possible hostile bid, which would have required Valeant to disclose more or Ackman to stop his buying.
“Plaintiffs must plead defendants knew they were in possession of material nonpublic information at the time of the trade and that they acted with the intent to deceive, manipulate, or defraud,” Carter wrote. “Plaintiffs have alleged both elements.”
Valeant spokeswoman Laurie Little said the Laval, Quebec-company was disappointed with the decision, and believes it complied with securities laws. “We look forward to presenting evidence to establish that we did nothing improper,” she added.

I’d pay money to see Bill have to explain himself in front of a lowly judge, educating the courtroom as to how putting 40% of his hedge fund into AGN, while working in secret with VRX, to takeover AGN, wasn’t isider trading.