Insider Trading Probe Looks at Fund King's 'Big Book'

Steven Cohen fund made trades suggested by pair who have copped to insider trading
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2011 11:10 AM CDT
Insider Trading Probe Looks at Fund King's 'Big Book'
Steven Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund manager of SAC Capital Advisors, and his wife Alexandra attend a world hunger benefit in this Dec. 10, 2009 file photo.   (AP Photo/Peppe Communications)

Federal prosecutors are looking into a massive hedge fund run by industry giant Steven Cohen as part of a sweeping insider trading investigation. They’re specifically looking at trades suggested by a pair of ex-employees of Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors who have pleaded guilty to insider trading (in the wake of this raid), the Wall Street Journal reports.

The portfolio in question is a $3 billion account that Cohen personally oversees—at the company, it’s referred to as “The Big Book.” Employees are offered bonuses if they suggest successful trades for the fund. Court filings against the ex-employees, Noah Freeman and Donald Longueuil, say they suggested trades "into the Cohen account.” The filings don’t specifically say those trades involved insider information however, or that Cohen would have known if they were. Neither Cohen nor SAC has been accused of wrongdoing. (Click here to read about Freeman and Longueuil's bungled attempt to cover their tracks.)

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