Anthony Chiasson

Anthony R. Chiasson (born August 27, 1973) is an American hedge fund manager and co-founder of Level Global Investors LP, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund management firm.[1][2] Level Global was launched in 2003 with about $500 million in assets under management, and grew to $4.2 billion in assets and 75 employees before closing in early 2011.[1][3]

Anthony Chiasson
BornAugust 27, 1973
Alma materBabson College (B.S.)
OccupationHedge fund manager

Chiasson was convicted of insider trading in December 2012, but the conviction was subsequently overturned in a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on December 10, 2014.[4] The Supreme Court of the United States denied the Justice Department's request to review the case on October 5, 2015. The appeal court ruling and the dismissal of the indictment against Chiasson stand.[5]

Early life

Chiasson grew up in Portland, Maine[6] and attended Cheverus High School.[3] In 1995, Chiasson received a Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College, where he graduated summa cum laude.[7]

Career

Chiasson began his career on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers in the equity research department, and in 1999, he joined SAC Capital Advisors as a senior technology analyst.[1][3]

Chiasson co-founded Level Global Investors LP in 2003.[1] In 2010, Goldman Sachs’ Petershill Fund bought a minority stake in the business.[8] Level Global had about $500 million in assets under management when it launched and grew to $4.2 billion in assets at its peak.[1] The firm had 75 employees.[1] Level Global’s growth was primarily driven by institutional investors including, New York State Common Retirement Fund, Aetna Inc., and Cornell University.[1][9]

Personal life and philanthropy

Chiasson is married and has two children. His family resides in New York City.[7]

Chiasson served on the board of his alma mater, Cheverus High School.[3]

Chiasson also served on the Board of Trustees of Babson College, having been appointed in 2008.[7] In 2009, Chiasson made a gift to Babson College to fund the Summer Venture Program.[10] The program is an intensive 10-week "boot camp for entrepreneurs" who receive an array of support services and mentoring from professors and local business leaders.[10] Chiasson also funded a Presidential Scholarship at Babson which was geared towards supporting need-based students from the State of Maine who are committed to pursuing a career in business.[11]

Controversy

In early 2012, Federal prosecutors from the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that Anthony Chiasson, Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management LLC and others, made illegal stock trades based on corporate secrets about Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corporation.[12] Chiasson was found guilty of conspiracy and multiple counts of securities fraud on December 17, 2012.[1]

Chiasson and Newman appealed their convictions to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, located in Manhattan, which heard oral arguments on April 22, 2014.[13] On December 10, 2014, the three-judge panel unanimously overturned the convictions of Chiasson and his co-defendant Todd Newman, finding that the government failed to prove they engaged in insider trading.[14] The Appeals Court said the Government presented no evidence that he engaged in insider trading and that the judge misread the law.[15][16] On April 16, 2015, the judge dismissed the indictment, and Chiasson was exonerated.[17] This was the first time an appeals court has overturned convictions in connection with the Justice Department’s crackdown on insider trading.[18] The priority the Department placed on insider trading has been met with criticism by some editorial boards and commentators.[19] U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, characterized the legal rationale supporting Chiasson's unanimous acquittal as "dramatically wrong" and filed a request for reconsideration by the three-judge panel that heard the appeal or for a rehearing en banc.[20] Both requests were denied without comment on April 3, 2015.[21][22] On April 16, 2015, the judge dismissed the indictments, and both Chiasson and Newman were exonerated.[17][23] The Supreme Court of the United States denied the Justice Department's request to review the case on October 5, 2015. The appeal court ruling and the dismissal of the indictment against Chiasson stand.[5]

See also
  • Chip Skowron, hedge fund portfolio manager convicted of insider trading

References
  1. Peter Lattman (May 13, 2013). "Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Sentenced in Insider Trading Case". The New York Times.
  2. Azam Ahmed (March 5, 2011). "Raid by F.B.I. Was Fatal Hit To Hedge Fund". The New York Times.
  3. Saijel Kishan and Katherine Burton (March 4, 2011). "Insider-Trading Probes Send Investors Scurrying Even When No One's Charged". Bloomberg News.
  4. Ben Protess and Matthew Goldstein (April 22, 2014). "Appeal Judges Hint at Doubts in Insider Case". The New York Times.
  5. "Bharara's Supreme Court Miss". The Wall Street Journal. October 5, 2015.
  6. Rioux, Luke (December 15, 2014). "Portland's Anthony Chiasson Wins Insider Trading Appeal in What Could Be a Landmark Case". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015./
  7. Leslie Brudgers (May 13, 2013). "Cheverus grad sentenced to 6 years for Wall Street crime". Portland Press Herald.
  8. Katherine Burton (April 2, 2010). "Goldman Sachs Fund Buys Stake in Ganek's $4 Billion Hedge Fund". Bloomberg News.
  9. Emily Chasan (May 25, 2011). "Level Global Hedge Fund Shutdown After Federal Raid". The Huffington Post.
  10. Leonard A. Schlesinger. "Summer Boot Camp". Babson College. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  11. Patricia Hurtado (May 1, 2013). "Chiasson Seeks Leniency From Court Citing Charitable Work". Bloomberg News.
  12. Dan Strumpf (December 17, 2012). "2 More Insider Convictions". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. Christopher M. Matthews (April 23, 2014). "Insider Cases' Legal Basis Questioned". The Wall Street Journal.
  14. Matt Levine (December 10, 2014). "Appeals Court Not So Keen on Insider Trading Crackdown". Bloomberg News.
  15. Protess, Ben; Goldstein, Matthew (December 10, 2014). "Appeals Court Overturns 2 Insider Trading Convictions". The New York Times. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  16. Everett Rosenfeld (December 10, 2014). "Insider trading convictions overturned for Newman and Chiasson". CNBC.
  17. Patricia Hurtado (April 16, 2015). "Fund Managers in Landmark Insider Ruling Cleared by U.S. Judge". Bloomberg Business.
  18. Joe Nocera (December 12, 2014). "Prosecuting Insider Trading". The New York Times.
  19. "An Outside the Law Prosecutor". The Wall Street Journal. December 10, 2014.
  20. Patricia Hurtado (January 13, 2015). "Insider Ruling Restricting Prosecutions Wrong, U.S. Says". Bloomberg Business.
  21. Ben Protess and Matthew Goldstein (April 3, 2015). "Court Rejects Bharara's Plea to Reconsider Insider Trading Ruling". The New York Times.
  22. Aruna Viswanatha (April 3, 2015). "Court Decision Foils Insider-Trading Cases". The Wall Street Journal.
  23. Nate Raymond (April 16, 2015). "Ex-Wyoming fund exec to replead to insider trading: lawyer". Reuters.
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