SEC freezes assets on Lonza-Arch Chemicals trades

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has obtained asset freezes and other emergency relief against three Swiss-based entities it has charged with insider trading ahead of a July 11 public announcement that Swiss-based Lonza Group Ltd would be acquiring Connecticut-based Arch Chemicals Inc. According to the SEC's complaint filed on July 15 within days of the alleged insider trading, Compania International Financiera S.A., Coudree Capital Gestion S.A., and Chartwell Asset Management Services purchased more than a million common shares of Arch between July 5 and July 8, mostly in accounts based in London, England. Immediately after the acquisition announcement on July 11, the firms began selling the recently-purchased shares of Arch common stock for millions of dollars in profits. The court's order froze certain assets of the defendants and ordered repatriation of all assets obtained from the trading described in the SEC's complaint. Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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