Sunday, April 6, 2008

Opes Prime: Collapse Down Under

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: "The Australian is reporting Opes 'share manipulation' probe.

The collapse of stockbroking firm Opes Prime has widened into a full-scale investigation of false accounting and manipulation of six key accounts worth $200 million to help clients to avoid margin calls.

It is alleged that Opes staff moved shares between the accounts of clients with margin loans in a 'round robin' fashion.

By moving shares, or by changing loan-to-valuation ratios, accounts could be made to look healthier, avoiding margin calls that could have forced the clients to dump shares or inject extra cash."

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