Pequot securities trading has been entirely proper and not based on insider information he added

“Pequot securities trading has been entirely proper, and not based on insider information,” he added.The allegations of insider trading come at a sensitive time for the hedge fund industry, which faces criticism on Capitol Hill over the actions of some short-sellers.The SEC’s attempts to get a grip on the $1.1 trillion industry were left in disarray when an appeal court threw out its rules requiring funds with more than 15 clients, or $30m, to register with the regulator. Ruling on a lawsuit brought by Philip Goldstein, the manager of the hedge fund Opportunity Partners, the court said the rule was arbitrary.. AXA Private Equity has joined a group of investment banks and hedge funds that have agreed to underwrite a controversial £1bn convertible bond issue aimed at staving off the bankruptcy of Eurotunnel. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley said: “We have no reason to believe the SEC has any interest in Mr Mack in connection with this matter and he has never been contacted on this matter by the SEC.”The SEC declined to comment on the issue.Before being hired to restore morale at a beleaguered Morgan Stanley, Mr Mack was briefly the chairman of Pequot Capital in 2005. The hedge fund is run by his long-time friend Arthur Samberg. The former securities analyst set up the business in 1986 and has grown Pequot into a manager of $7bn (£4bn) of assets, making it one of the 50 biggest hedge funds.A Pequot spokesman said it conducts hundreds of thousands of trades and it was unsurprising some attracted the attention of regulators, but no investigation had led to charges. The letter does not refer to Mr Mack by name but it has since emerged he is the figure to whom Mr Aguirre was referring.His superiors did not agree Mr Mack should be subpoenaed and, after rowing over the issue, Mr Aguirre was sacked in September.

Mr Mack was the president of Morgan Stanley until 2001 and then co-chief executive of CSFB from 2002 to 2004. Morgan Stanley said yesterday the allegations, reported in The New York Times, were simply not true. The hedge fund involved, Pequot Capital, said it had been investigated by the SEC but had never done anything wrong.
The SEC investigator, Gary Aguirre, claims he was ousted from the organisation after insisting it subpoena Mr Mack, a powerful ally and fundraiser for President George Bush.Mr Aguirre said in a letter to senior members of Congress his inquiry into Pequot had led him to the conclusion that a senior Wall Street executive had been passing information to the hedge fund at the beginning of the decade. The iTunes store has sold more than 15 million videos in the nine months since it added the content.An explosion of free user-generated content such as amateur videos, available on sites such as YouTube, is encouraged people, especially teenagers, to spend more time on the internet.. John Mack, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley, is at the centre of an insider-dealing storm, after allegations from a former investigator at the Securities and Exchange Commission that he passed trading tips to the head of one of Wall Street’s oldest hedge funds.

Google characterised its move into free video as a trial, and it continues to have feet in both camps.Looking on nervously will be Steve Jobs, chairman of Apple, whose iTunes looks set to be the biggest retailer of video downloads if a paid-for model wins out. And earlier this year, Disney-owned ABC, maker of Desperate Housewives and Lost, experimented with free online streaming of some shows, including advert breaks that viewers could not skip.The jury is still out on whether internet users will agree to pay for download-to-own videos or one-time streaming, or whether an advertisement-funded model will prevail. Several broadcasters have begun selling downloadable version of their shows over iTunes and other online stores. The search engine giant-turned-media group has launched an experimental video site offering access to professionally made content funded entirely by advertising.
Users can watch Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps or a classic Charlie Chaplin sketch in a window under an advert for Netflix, or relive the animated adventures of Mr Magoo or Rocky and Bullwinkle under a banner ad for Burger King.Hewlett-Packard, the computer maker, is also among the half-dozen advertisers to have signed up to the trial.Google Video had previously offered access to film and television content for a small fee, but its entry into the free-to-air market was being seen yesterday an important moment in the explosion of video on the web.Placing adverts on online video could also become a big new revenue stream for Google, which currently makes most of its profits from adverts posted next to queries to its search engine.A Google spokesman said: “We are always looking for ways to show targeted and engaging advertising to users and we think that Google Video is a natural extension of this ongoing effort.”Broadcasters have been fretting over the explosion in internet video over the past year, which threatens to become a major challenge to network television and lucrative DVD sales. In a move that will send shivers down the spines of television executives, Google has begun offering old movies, cartoons and television shows on the internet – for free.

Alliance UniChem’s banker is Merrill Lynch, its brokers are Credit Suisse, with Allen & Overy giving legal advice.. That, in part, provided the impetus for its merger with the pharmacy wholesaler and retailer Alliance UniChem.The merger, slated for completion at the end of next month, should create a group of sufficient size to take on the likes of Tesco in the sale of health and beauty products, with combined annual sales of over £13bn.Boots expects cost savings of about £100m from the deal, which is likely to cost the pair about £42m, the lion’s share of which will be paid to those advising on the £7bn deal.The investment bank Goldman Sachs is banker to Boots, while its brokers are Merrill Lynch and UBS Slaughter and May is providing legal advice. That marked a 15 per cent increase on the previous year, when no bonuses were awarded after Boots failed to meet business targets and profits fell 10 per cent.
Mr Baker, who negotiated Boots’ merger with Alliance UniChem and sold its healthcare business last year, has since tried to reposition the company as “the health and beauty expert”. The 43-year-old joined Boots from Asda, the supermarket group owned by the American retail giant Wal-Mart, in September 2003.Details of his salary were revealed as Boots signalled that 35,000 workers were to carve up a £6.5m windfall, with full-time staff to receive nearly £250 in shares.The Nottingham-based company, which has 1,400 shops, has been buffeted by fierce competition from supermarkets. The health and beauty retailer’s annual report and accounts revealed that Mr Baker earned almost £1.2m after bonuses were reintroduced. The advertisement said: “Arcelor shareholders, vote ‘No’ to the forced Severstal merger.” Arcelor’s campaign emphasised its preference for the Severstal deal and asked, “Is it better to be everywhere or there where it matters?”.