FINRA Bars Former Piper Jaffray & Co. Broker from Industry for Insider Trading
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is barring former Piper Jaffray & Co. broker Abhishek Uppal from the securities industry. Uppal is accused of insider trading. He has agreed to the ban and has settled the FINRA charges without denying or admitting wrongdoing.
From 2007 until this July, Uppal worked in Piper Jaffray & Co.’s investment banking department. The broker-dealer was the confidential adviser of SoftBrands while the company considered potential buyers. Uppal was not allowed to buy SoftBrands shares. Yet on June 4 and 5, he bought 27,161 SoftBrands shares. On June 12, SoftBrands announced its acquisition by Golden Gate Capital and Infor Global Solutions—an $80 million transaction. SoftBrands’s stock price almost doubled.
Uppal, who bought his shares at $.42 and.$.45 per share, sold his stock at $.89 per share. He made $11,955 from the sale.
FINRA is accusing Uppal of not only engaging in insider trading but also of using an undisclosed securities account at another broker-dealer so that Piper Jaffray & Co. wouldn’t find out that he was trading in SoftBrands stock.
FINRA says that its market regulation department is committed to “surveilling the markets” for insider trading and acting quickly to sanction wrongdoers by making them leave the securities industry.
Our stockbroker fraud law firm represents many investors who have suffered losses because a broker engaged in insider trading, margin account abuse, misrepresentations, did not execute trades, was in breach of fiduciary duty, or engaged in some other form of broker misconduct.
Related Web Resources:
FINRA Bars California Broker for Insider Trading, FINRA, November 4, 2009
Insider Trading, Securities and Exchange Commission
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