“SAC Capital Advisors LP, the hedge fund run by billionaire Steven A. Cohen, will pay a record $616 million to settle U.S. regulatory claims that two of its units engaged in insider trading.

Settlement of the civil allegations against the units doesn’t preclude the Securities and Exchange Commission from pursuing Cohen himself in the future, George Canellos, the agency’s acting enforcement director, said on a conference call with reporters today. The investigation by the SEC continues, as does the criminal case against former SAC portfolio manager Mathew Martoma.

“There is no way of predicting what they intend to do,” saidJacob Frenkel, a former SEC enforcement lawyer who is now a partner at Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker PA in Potomac, Maryland. “When the agency is so obviously pursuing someone, and when we do not know what cooperators are saying, there are just too many unknowns.”

Cohen was linked in November to alleged illegal trades done by Martoma in a case that U.S. prosecutors described as the most-lucrative insider-trading scheme they’ve ever uncovered, with profits and averted losses of $276 million. SAC manages $15 billion out of Stamford, Connecticut, 60 percent of which is Cohen’s and his employees’ money. Cohen hasn’t been sued personally by the SEC or charged with a crime.

Boesky, Milken…”

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“Earlier this week, the Data Center of China Internet (DCCI) released a report (h/t Tech In Asia) that showed nearly 35 percent of the Android apps it surveyed were secretly stealing user data unrelated to the app’s functionality. The DCCI, a research institute, looked at 1,400 apps downloaded from different app markets and found that 66.9 percent were tracking users’ private data, with 34.5 percent collecting information that had no connection to the app’s usage.

The DCCI’s findings are yet more signs of how fragmented and chaotic China’s Android market is–and how little control Google has over it, despite the Chinese government’s concerns about its supposed dominance. Just last week, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a white paper that said Google has too much control over China’s smartphone industry via Android and has discriminated against domestic companies, in part by making it difficult for Chinese firms to develop their own operating systems.

But as TechCrunch’s Natasha Lomas wrote last week, even though Android dominates the OS landscape in China, “not all Chinese Android-powered devices are equal since a large proportion of homegrown mobile makers heavily customise Android and do not carry any of the standard Google services such as its Play store.”

Many observers believe that “Chinadroids,” or no-name devices that have been equipped with modified versions of Android, will take over China’s mobile market in the near future. As TechRice notes, sales of these forked devices may be lucrative, but ChinaDroids are also a valuable gateway to content, starting with in-app purchases and then becoming the “terminal of choice” for e-commerce. Google’s absence has created “fierce and chaotic competition to control content delivery channels in China.” …”

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“(Reuters) – In a direct challenge to its bondholders, Chesapeake Energy Corp on Friday went ahead with its plan to buy back $1.3 billion of notes early.

Chesapeake, the second-largest U.S. natural gas company, said it issued a notice to redeem the bonds, 6.775 percent notes maturing in 2019, at 100 cents on the dollar, or par.

It is pursuing the redemption despite failing at a Thursday hearing to persuade U.S. District JudgePaul Engelmayer in Manhattan to force bond trustee Bank of New York Mellon Corp to accept the plan.

Bank of New York Mellon and investors holding $250 million of the notes oppose the proposed redemption, saying Chesapeake acted too late.

The investor group argued that any redemption should include an extra “make-whole” payment that Chesapeake has said could cost it an extra $400 million.

Chesapeake is hoping to avoid the $400 million payment as it tries to close a potential $4 billion cash shortfall this year.

In morning trading, the price of the notes fell 3.25 cents to 104 cents on the dollar, boosting the yield to 5.97 percent from 5.34 percent, according to bond pricing service Trace. The price had risen to a record high of 108 cents on Thursday.

The dispute is separate from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into a perk that granted Chesapeake’s departing chief executive, Aubrey McClendon, a stake in company wells, and a U.S. Department of Justice probe into possible antitrust violations over Michigan land transactions.

In denying Chesapeake’s request for a preliminary injunction, Engelmayer said the company had not shown it would suffer irreparable harm without one….”

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“Google will pay $7 million to settle complaints from dozens of U.S. states about its unauthorized collection of personal data transmitted over Wi-Fi networks.

The money will be paid to 37 states and the District of Columbia, which had gone after Google after it admitted that its Street View cars had collected the data inadvertently between 2008 and 2010.

As well as photographing their surroundings, the Street View cars collect data about the location of Wi-Fi access points to help with Google’s navigation services. It was during that process that the company’s cars collected personal information sent over those networks.

As part of the settlement, Google said it would destroy the personal data it collected.

It has also removed the equipment and software used to collect the data from its Street View vehicles and will not collect additional information without prior notice and consent, the Attorney General of New York said in a statement.,,,”

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“Apple has indeed managed a significant turnaround in India’s smartphone market, according to new figures out from IDC today (via CNN). The Apple smartphone grabbed 15.6 percent of India’s smartphone market by revenue  in Q4 2012, according to new data from the research firm, just behind market leading Samsung with its 38.8 percent, a significant change from the third quarter of last year, when IDC showed that Samsung had 46 percent share and Apple didn’t even crack the top five.

The about-face from Apple comes after IDC said in early February that the Mac maker had turned on the juice with respect to sales in India, growing its share by as much as 400 percent. At the time, no specific details about Apple’s actual change in percentage were released, but today’s update indicates that growth has been impressive in absolute terms, as well as relative when it comes to revenue. Still, the company has a lot of ground to make up when it comes to actual device shipment share…”

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“CANBERRA (Reuters) – BHP Billiton Ltd said it was co-operating in an investigation into possible violations of anti-corruption laws, and said in response to media reports that it believed its sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics had complied with all applicable laws.

The Australian Financial Review said on Wednesday that allegations BHP provided inducements,hospitality and gifts to Chinese and other foreign officials were the subject of an investigation by theU.S. Department of Justice and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The U.S. Justice Department told the AFR, in response to a freedom of information request, it was conducting “law enforcement proceedings” involving BHP, which supplied materials for the gold, silver and bronze medals used in Beijing….”

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“SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co got approval from U.S. transport regulators on Tuesday to start testing a redesigned battery for the 787 Dreamliner, putting it one step closer to getting the troubled airplane back into regular service.

Also on Tuesday, sources told Reuters the planemaker was close to signing a $15 billion deal to sell about 170 single-aisle 737 planes to budget Irish carrier Ryanair.

Boeing’s shares closed up 1.5 percent, hitting an almost five-year high, and extended gains in after-hours trade.

Late on Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it approved Boeing’s battery certification plan and will permit two aircraft limited flights to test the new design.

Regulators grounded the 50 Dreamliners in use by airlines on January 16 after lithium-ion batteries burned aboard two planes, banning airlines from flying the 787 and stopping Boeing from delivering them. Although its factories continue to make the 787, Boeing is losing an estimated $50 million a week while the planes are grounded.

“We won’t allow the plane to return to service unless we’re satisfied that the new design ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

Boeing’s new battery – which it presented to the FAA in late February – is designed to minimize the chances of a short circuit, insulates the cells within the battery better and adds a new containment and venting system to prevent damage even if the battery catches fire…..”

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COST, RSH, VER, YUM, RMBS, DMND, HPQ, BBY, DKS, AAPL, RCL, CCL,

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“American International Group Inc. (AIG) had more than $600 million in impairments since the end of 2010 on death-benefits bets as the company was stuck paying insurance premiums for people who lived longer than the firm expected.

The insurer recorded $309 million of impairments in 2012 and $312 million in 2011, AIG said in its annual report last month. So-called life-settlement contracts let investors buy insurance policies from individuals and pay the premiums until those people die. The arrangement is less profitable for AIG the longer a person survives, the opposite of traditional life coverage sold by the firm, in which early deaths hurt results.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche has more recently added bets on home loans as he refocuses the investment portfolio. He said in 2011 that New York-based AIG reviewed the life contracts and that “this is not an area we’re going to be emphasizing.” It can be difficult to sell the holdings, said Gary Brown, CEO of CMG Life Services Inc.

“It’s truly almost always a buyer’s market,” Brown, whose firm oversees contracts with a face value of more than $5 billion for institutional clients, said yesterday at an industry conference inNew York. “You’ve got to hold to maturity. You can’t plan on this being freely tradable.”

AIG had 5,673 policies with a carrying value of about $4.2 billion at the end of 2012, compared with 5,901 policies carried at $4 billion a year earlier, and 2,632 policies worth about $1.6 billion at the end of 2007

Investors like AIG gain if the death benefit exceeds the purchase price and cost of maintaining a policy. The value of the contracts is reduced when AIG determines that a person will live longer than expected. The insurer doesn’t restate the value higher if it expects the contract to be more profitable,Peter Hancock, head of AIG’s property-casualty business, said on a 2011 conference call….”

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“(Reuters) – Two groups of American International Group Inc shareholders won class-action status from a federal judge on Monday in a $25 billion lawsuit by former Chief Executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg over alleged losses caused by the U.S. government’s bailout of the insurer.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Thomas Wheeler also appointed Greenberg’s lawyer, David Boies, of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, as lead counsel for the classes.

Greenberg’s Starr International Co, once AIG’s largest shareholder with a 12 percent stake, sued the United States in 2011 over what eventually became a $182.3 billion bailout for the New York-based insurer.

It said that by taking a 79.9 percent AIG stake and then conducting a reverse stock split without letting existing shareholders vote, the government conducted an illegal taking that violated the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Citing Boies’ estimate that “tens of thousands” of shareholders might be affected, Wheeler said “class certification is by far the most efficient method of adjudicating these claims.”

He distinguished the case from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2011 rejection of class status for more than 1 million Wal-Mart Stores Inc workers alleging gender bias, saying the AIG claims are “based on the same exact government action” rather than “literally millions” of separate actions.

One class includes AIG shareholders as of September 22, 2008, when a credit agreement awarding the 79.9 percent stake took effect. The other class includes shareholders as of June 30, 2009 who were denied a chance to vote on the reverse split….”

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“The U.K. Serious Fraud Office has opened an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by managers at Autonomy Corp., the software maker acquired and later written down by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)

The SFO informed Hewlett-Packard of the investigation Feb. 6, and follows the U.S. Justice Department in probing Autonomy, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard said in a filingyesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mike Lynch, Autonomy’s founder and former chief executive officer, has rejected allegations of wrongdoing.

Hewlett-Packard last year accused Autonomy managers of misrepresenting results before selling the company for $10.3 billion in 2011. The writedown and faltering performance of the acquisition are complicating efforts by Chief Executive OfficerMeg Whitman to revive growth after years of botched deals, management tumult and diminishing demand for personal computers.

“As a result of the findings of an ongoing investigation, HP has provided information to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC related to the accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and misrepresentations at Autonomy that occurred prior to and in connection with HP’s acquisition,” Hewlett-Packard said….”

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“NEW YORK (Reuters) – TD Ameritrade Holding Corp , the biggest broker for active individual traders, said that client assets in February crossed the $500 billion threshold as the firm seeks to offset flaccid commission income with asset-based fees.

The announcement on Monday accompanied the Omaha-based discount broker’s report that client trades in February were essentially flat with January and down 6 percent from February of 2012. The firm’s chief financial officer last week signaled that client trades would track the broader market, where stock trading inched up 2 percent while stock options trading fell by the same amount.

TD Ameritrade’s flaunting of its half-trillion dollar asset milestone mirrors rival Charles Schwab Corp’s announcement last month that its client assets at the firm passed the $2 trillion level. Schwab has not yet announced its clients’ trading metrics for February, but they generally make fewer average daily trades than TD Ameritrade’s clients….”

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“Intrade, an online service that lets people bet with one another on events such as elections and the weather, ceased trading activity, saying it is investigating possible financial irregularities.

The firm, owned by Dublin-based Trade Exchange Network Ltd., will not make payments to customers from their online accounts while the investigation is in progress, it said in a statement on its website. The service provider has closed and settled all open contracts at fair market value as at the end of March 10, it said.

“During the upcoming weeks, we will investigate these circumstances further and determine the necessary course of action,” Intrade said in the statement. The company’s auditors last month expressed concern over payments to the accounts of the firm’s late founder, John Delaney.

Intrade allowed customers to bet with one another on binary outcomes of future events such as the possibility of Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana becoming the next Pope. Just as stock exchanges find the price of shares, the so-called prediction market found the probability of an event happening, according to Intrade’s website. The marketplace accurately predicted the results of the U.S. presidential elections in 2008 and 2012 and was used by central banks and Wall Street firms, it said.

The company’s statement didn’t give details of any irregularities and said it took the actions in accordance with Irish law. Carl Wolfenden, Intrades’s operations manager, declined to comment when contacted by telephone today. A spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment…..”

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“Carol Yu, co-president and chief financial officer of Sohu.com, last week denied newspaper reports that the giant Chinese internet portal was in talks to go private.  “No such discussions are in progress or currently contemplated,” she said in a statement Wednesday.

Hours before, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, citing four “financial industry sources,” reported that the Beijing-based company had talked to Credit Suisse and others about its plans to delist from Nasdaq, where it debuted in July 2000.  “Both Charles and his bankers believe Sohu is significantly undervalued at present in terms of share price performance,” said a source to the paper, referring to Sohu founder and Chairman Charles Zhang.

There’s no doubt that Sohu has been underperforming the market.  In the past 12 months, the stock has fallen more than 9% while the S&P 500 jumped more than 12%.  Zhang may blame America, but the decline is attributable to investor skepticism about his company’s profitability in the long run, despite a good fourth quarter when it outperformed expectations.

Sohu does not match up well against its host of competitors, especially its two main portal rivals, Sina.com and NetEase.  Moreover, Sohu is also outgunned by companies that provide specific services, most notably Chinese search leader Baidu.  All three of these Sohu competitors are Nasdaq-listed.

Sohu is not the only laggard trading in the U.S.  As a result of low stock prices, Chinese companies are leaving American exchanges.  Barron’s reports that last year 25 U.S.-listed China businesses announced they would delist.  In 2011, 16 of them revealed delisting plans.  In 2010, the number was six.  Besides Sohu, two other major Chinese companies have “sought advice” on fleeing U.S. exchanges, theSouth China Morning Post reports.

Charles Zhang, according to the Hong Kong paper, has been inspired by the privatization plan of Focus Media, a Nasdaq-listed firm.  If the Shanghai-based advertiser actually goes private, it will be the largest Chinese company to delist from a U.S. exchange.

Analysts think Focus Media will relist in Hong Kong once it bulks up its revenues and strengthens its balance sheet.  That appears to be Charles Zhang’s plan for Sohu as well.  Even though Sohu issued denials—one of them in an 8K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission—the reporting of the South China Morning Postnonetheless feels accurate, especially given the delisting trend among Chinese companies….”

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“After laying off 4,000 Motorola employees last year, representing around 20 percent of the total workforce, Google just announced that it would increase job cuts by a further 10 percent — now representing 1,200 people. The WSJ intercepted an internal email laying out the motivations behind this move.

“Our costs are too high, we’re operating in markets where we’re not competitive and we’re losing money,” said a Motorola spokesperson in the internal email. The business division is still losing a lot of money every quarter and it impacts Google’s bottom line.

Employees in the U.S., China and India will be affected. Since the acquisition, many Google executives have changed position to help run Motorola. But the turnaround hasn’t happened yet.

For Q4 2012, Motorola generated revenues of $1.51 billion, which represents a dip from previous quarters. And the company reported $353 million of GAAP operating loss….”

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“Where stress tests are concerned, callCitigroup “most improved.”

The bank posted an 8.3 percent tier 1 common capital ratio – the highest of its peers – under the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests, which show how financial institutions would fare amid severe economic crisis.

While the tests have been carried out for three years, this is the first that it’s been tackled in two, separate parts: The first, the performance of the banks on the Fed’s models. The second, the Fed’s sign-off on each bank’s plan to return capital to shareholders.

The splitting of the tests came after Citigroup in 2012 cleared the capital hurdle, but saw the Fed strike down its proposal to disburse some of its remaining capital. The bank, as a result, categorically failed the test…..”

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