Times Online- On one level, it appears almost comical – a tale that manages to draw in Harry Potter’s enemy Lord Voldemort, Shakespeare and a series of TV shows.
On another, it is a story that involves some of the most arcane aspects of investment practice.
At the heart of it is a transatlantic dispute that has put a London-based hedge fund at loggerheads with Wall Street’s regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Times Online – On one level, it appears almost comical – a tale that manages to draw in Harry Potter’s enemy Lord Voldemort, Shakespeare and a series of TV shows.
On another, it is a story that involves some of the most arcane aspects of investment practice.
At the heart of it is a transatlantic dispute that has put a London-based hedge fund at loggerheads with Wall Street’s regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars; and the row promises to reignite the fierce debate about the right of American authorities to flex their muscles beyond the US.
The SEC is accusing Headstart Advisers, a hedge fund based in London’s Chelsea, of orchestrating a scheme to defraud shareholders in US mutual funds. Also in the watchdog’s sights is Headstart’s investment adviser and sole director, Najy Nasser.
And how does the SEC’s lawsuit bring in a Harry Potter character? Because, according to the claim, Headstart opened accounts with US broker-dealers with names that bore no relation to itself to disguise its activities.
