SEC in settlement talks with quant analyst involved in $8.5M front-running scheme
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and quant analyst Sergei Polevikov are engaged in talks about a possible resolution of the action brought by the regulator. This becomes clear from the latest Court filings, seen by FX News Group.
In September, the SEC announced charges against Sergei Polevikov, who worked as a quantitative analyst at two prominent asset management firms, for perpetrating a years-long front-running scheme that generated illicit profits of at least $8.5 million.
According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least January 2014 through October 2019, Polevikov had access to real-time, non-public information about the size and timing of his employers’ securities orders and trades, and used that information to secretly trade on, and ahead of, his employers’ trades.
As alleged, Polevikov, on nearly 3,000 occasions, bought or sold a stock on the same side of the market as his employers before his employers executed trades in the same stock for their fund clients. Polevikov typically would close his positions the same day as he opened them, capitalizing on the price movement caused by his employers’ large trades.
The SEC alleges that Polevikov concealed his fraudulent scheme by executing the trades in the account of his wife, Maryna Arystava, who uses a different last name.
The documents filed with the New York Southern District Court on December 9, 2021, reveal that the defendants request a 60-day extension of the deadline to respond to the complaint to February 18, 2022.
The requested extension would allow the parties to continue ongoing discussions regarding a possible resolution of this matter. This is the second request to extend time to respond to the complaint. The SEC has consented to the requested extension.