The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed lawsuits against Exante, a broker in connection to one of the most significant financial hacking cases ever. Exante is an European investment company that brokers financial markets. Exante brokers offer a range of exchange-traded and over-the-counter financial instruments as well as cryptocurrencies.
SEC fees
SEC charges nine clients with trading illegally via brokerage accounts opened with Exante
U.S. authorities stated that the defendants had accessed more than 100,000 press release issued by Marketwired, PR Newswire of New York, and Business Wire in San Francisco, starting in 2010. The press releases included earnings data and other corporate information.
According to court documents, the prosecution's office stated that the defendants used 800 news releases to conduct transactions before the information was published. This time lag ranged from hours to three days.
Exante has denied all allegations since day one
Exante for its part refuted the allegations right from the beginning, saying: "
" Any illegal trading is not acceptable since the company was founded by traders.
"Exante is not and has never been a hedge fund, contrary to what was claimed in the complaint." Exante's business model is to execute transactions on behalf of our clients.
Exante claimed that it has strong, effective market monitoring and internal oversight. Exante stated that they are in direct contact with the MFSA to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We are confident that it will become clear that we acted properly over time. We await the actual results.
"Our staff will continue working hard to ensure Exante customers receive exceptional service, while maintaining security and peace of mind."
SEC statement
The nine defendants were Exante Ltd. brokerage clients and engaged in illegal trading via a brokerage account they opened with Exante. The SEC also dismissed extant claims based on similar transactions, simultaneously with these new charges being filed.