Anderson is under scrutiny for colluding with hedge funds in preparing reports to target various companies, added the report based on a Canadian portal, which cited documents filed before a court in Ontario.
The portal stated that documents filed in a defamation case at the Ontario Superior Court revealed that Moez Kassam, head of Canada’s Anson hedge fund, admitted to sharing research with various sources, including Hindenburg’s Nate Anderson.
The Market Frauds portal, cited in the PTI report, said that the court documents “allegedly revealed” that Hindenburg Research “colluded with Anson” while preparing a report.
It also highlighted the fact that preparation of bearish report without disclosure of participation can be charged as securities fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Though it is common for short-sellers to borrow a security, sell it on the open market, and later repurchase it at a lower price following negative reports about companies, the involvement of hedge funds is something that raises concerns.
This is because such funds may place parallel bets that amplify downward pressure on stock prices.
Anderson, Anson and Kassam are yet to issue any statement on the matter.
The portal, quoted by PTI, said, “We know for a fact, from the email conversations between Anderson and Anson Funds, that he was indeed working for Anson and published whatever they told him to, from the price target to what should and shouldn’t be in the report”.
“He asked them multiple times if they needed ‘more’. From what we can see in the dozens of exchanges, at no time did he have editorial control. He was being told what to publish,” the portal claimed.
In addition, the Market Frauds portal also shared screenshots of some email interactions between Hindenburg and Anson to support its charge. It claimed to have accessed these screenshots through the documents available with the Ontario court.
“There are multiple counts of securities fraud for both Anson Funds and Nate Anderson, and we have only gone through 5% of what’s in there as of the time of writing,” the portal said.
“From what we have read so far, it is almost a certainty that when the whole exchange between Hindenburg and Anson reaches the SEC, Nate Anderson will be charged with securities fraud in 2025,” it added.
The report added that when the association first emerged, Hindenburg Research said it received “hundreds of leads each year from diverse sources,” such as industry experts, whistleblowers and other investors.
“We rigorously vet each lead and have always maintained full editorial independence over our work.
The portal went on to highlight one such report published by Hindenburg Research about Facedrive, a Canadian company that went public through a reverse merger as an eco-friendly ride-sharing service. The short-seller had claimed that the company was overvalued and lavishly paying promoters.
As per the portal, Anson had allegedly exchanged emails with Anderson over the report and added that court documents revealed that the hedge fund had knowledge of when the report was to be published.
Just last week, Anderson made an announcement about shutting down Hindenburg Research, which came under the spotlight in India after publishing a scathing report about billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, the Adani Group.
Anderson shared a detailed post, stating that the research firm’s work is complete, and it is time to move on.
“As I’ve shared with family, friends and our team since late last year, I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research,” he said in a blog post.
Hindenburg Research founder Nate Anderson, who last week made the announcement about shutting down operations of the short-selling firm, could be charged with securities fraud, news agency PTI reported.
Anderson is under scrutiny for colluding with hedge funds in preparing reports to target various companies, added the report based on a Canadian portal, which cited documents filed before a court in Ontario.
The portal stated that documents filed in a defamation case at the Ontario Superior Court revealed that Moez Kassam, head of Canada’s Anson hedge fund, admitted to sharing research with various sources, including Hindenburg’s Nate Anderson.
The Market Frauds portal, cited in the PTI report, said that the court documents “allegedly revealed” that Hindenburg Research “colluded with Anson” while preparing a report.
It also highlighted the fact that preparation of bearish report without disclosure of participation can be charged as securities fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Though it is common for short-sellers to borrow a security, sell it on the open market, and later repurchase it at a lower price following negative reports about companies, the involvement of hedge funds is something that raises concerns.
This is because such funds may place parallel bets that amplify downward pressure on stock prices.
Anderson, Anson and Kassam are yet to issue any statement on the matter.
The portal, quoted by PTI, said, “We know for a fact, from the email conversations between Anderson and Anson Funds, that he was indeed working for Anson and published whatever they told him to, from the price target to what should and shouldn’t be in the report”.
“He asked them multiple times if they needed ‘more’. From what we can see in the dozens of exchanges, at no time did he have editorial control. He was being told what to publish,” the portal claimed.
In addition, the Market Frauds portal also shared screenshots of some email interactions between Hindenburg and Anson to support its charge. It claimed to have accessed these screenshots through the documents available with the Ontario court.
“There are multiple counts of securities fraud for both Anson Funds and Nate Anderson, and we have only gone through 5% of what’s in there as of the time of writing,” the portal said.
“From what we have read so far, it is almost a certainty that when the whole exchange between Hindenburg and Anson reaches the SEC, Nate Anderson will be charged with securities fraud in 2025,” it added.
The report added that when the association first emerged, Hindenburg Research said it received “hundreds of leads each year from diverse sources,” such as industry experts, whistleblowers and other investors.
“We rigorously vet each lead and have always maintained full editorial independence over our work.
The portal went on to highlight one such report published by Hindenburg Research about Facedrive, a Canadian company that went public through a reverse merger as an eco-friendly ride-sharing service. The short-seller had claimed that the company was overvalued and lavishly paying promoters.
As per the portal, Anson had allegedly exchanged emails with Anderson over the report and added that court documents revealed that the hedge fund had knowledge of when the report was to be published.
Just last week, Anderson made an announcement about shutting down Hindenburg Research, which came under the spotlight in India after publishing a scathing report about billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, the Adani Group.
Anderson shared a detailed post, stating that the research firm’s work is complete, and it is time to move on.
“As I’ve shared with family, friends and our team since late last year, I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research,” he said in a blog post.
This Article Is Originally Posted by IndiaToday
