NEW YORK, July 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a rare step
yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued a
letter to eight financial and brokerage institutions advising them
that the bank accounts of Compania Internacional Financiera S.A.,
which is controlled by Turkish citizen Yomi
Rodrig, and Coudree Capital Gestion S.A., both defendants in
a recent insider trading case, were no longer frozen and any monies
or assets could be released pursuant to a court order issued by
Judge Denise L. Cote. In fact,
the SEC also agreed to forego an opportunity to obtain a
preliminary injunction against the defendants, which would have
required the SEC to show a likelihood of success on the merits.
On July 15, 2011, the SEC obtained
a Temporary Restraining Order freezing the assets of Compania and
Coudree, two Swiss entities, based on allegations of insider
trading in the stock of Arch Chemicals (ticker symbol: ARJ).
A preliminary injunction hearing had been scheduled for
Thursday, July 28, 2011 before Judge
Cote, at which the SEC would have had to show a likelihood of
success on the merits of their insider trading case. Rather
than proceed with this hearing, however, the SEC entered into an
Order by Consent with Compania and Coudree whereby the SEC agreed
to forego the preliminary injunction hearing, and thus avoid having
to show a likelihood of success in their case. The SEC also
agreed to lift the asset freeze on Compania and Coudree's accounts
so they could resume trading (in exchange for Compania and Coudree
depositing an agreed upon sum of money to be held in escrow with
the court pending a hearing on the merits of the SEC's
allegations). Ira Lee Sorkin of
Lowenstein Sandler in New York is representing Compania and
Coudree.
Most notably, the SEC took the rare step of issuing a letter to
all the financial and brokerage institutions that may have
information about this case advising them that Compania and
Coudree's assets were no longer frozen and the companies could
trade in the securities markets.
The case is SEC v. Compania Internacional Financiera S.A., et
al. (No. 11-cv-4904 SDNY).
SOURCE Lowenstein Sandler PC