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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
Litigation Release No. 15126 / October 18, 1996
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. MICHAEL JONSSON AND
OBJECTIVE INVEST HOLDING S.A., 96 Civ. 7867 (RO) (S.D.N.Y. 1996)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that
on October 17, 1996, the Honorable Milton Pollack, Senior United
States District Judge, Southern District of New York, issued a
Temporary Restraining Order in this insider trading case against
defendants Michael Jonsson and Objective Invest Holding S.A.
("OIH") and their agents, that, among other things, froze the
defendants' assets.
In its Complaint, the Commission alleged that the defendants
sold common stock of Olicom A/S ("Olicom") and purchased put
options through bank accounts in Luxembourg prior to the April 2,
1996 public announcement that Olicom expected to report an
operating loss for the first quarter of 1996. At the time of the
trading, Jonsson was an executive with Olicom. He effected the
trades through Luxembourg banks for his own account and for OIH,
whose account he controlled. The Complaint alleged that while in
possession of material, nonpublic information concerning Olicom's
expected operating loss and the impending public announcement of
Olicom's bad news, the defendants sold a total of 28,000 shares
of Olicom common stock and purchased a total of 800 Olicom put
options. Defendants avoided losses of approximately $88,000 by
selling the shares of Olicom stock, and reaped a profit of
approximately $99,000 through the exercise of the put options and
accompanying transactions in Olicom's common stock.
The Commission applied for emergency relief, which included
the asset freeze, to prevent the defendants from removing assets
from the United States. The Commission acted when it did
because, as noted in documents filed in support of its
application for the emergency relief, on October 16, 1996,
Jonsson, who resides in Denmark, ordered the liquidation of
certain positions held in a brokerage account in the United
States, apparently with the intention of removing assets out of
the United States. The proceeds from this account would have
been available for immediate transfer overseas on Friday, October
18, 1996. As a result of the Temporary Restraining Order, this
account as well as all other assets of the defendants are frozen
SNIPPETS:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. MICHAEL JONSSON AND OBJECTIVE INVEST HOLDING S.A.,
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that on October 17, 1996, the
In its Complaint, the Commission alleged that the defendants sold common stock of Olicom A/S
At the time of the trading, Jonsson was an executive with Olicom.
He effected the trades through Luxembourg banks for his own account and for OIH,
The Complaint alleged that while in possession of material, nonpublic information concerning
Defendants avoided losses of approximately $88,000 by selling the shares of Olicom stock, and
The Commission applied for emergency relief, which included the asset freeze, to prevent the
The proceeds from this account would have been available for immediate transfer overseas on
As a result of the Temporary Restraining Order, this account as well as all other assets of
the Commission alleged that the trading of Jonsson and OIH in Olicom stock and put options
The Court scheduled a hearing for October 31, 1996, on the Commission's Application for a
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