Secondary market for Buying and Selling Restricted Securities (Section 144A Exemption and 4(1-1/2) Exemption) - Registered and Unregistered Stock, Affiliate and Control Stock, Convertible Securities, Registered Warrants, Unregistered Warrants, Block Trades and Portfolios of Securities

Restricted Securities

Market Description

SecondMarket's Restricted Securities Market facilitates transactions primarily in restricted securities in illiquid public stocks. Restricted securities include restricted stock, warrants, debt, and other convertible securities that are generally acquired from public companies in transactions that are not registered with the SEC or issued to corporate advisors as compensation for services rendered. They can also be registered with the SEC, but held by a "control" or "affiliate" person amounting to as much as 50% or more of the securities in some public companies. As the name implies, restricted securities cannot be freely traded and are, therefore, illiquid. However, through a privately negotiated sale -- a Section 4(1-1/2) Exemption -- accredited individuals and qualified institutions are able to purchase restricted securities. SecondMarket has been completing restricted securities transactions since 2004. SecondMarket has also recently opened its marketplace to block positions in publicly traded companies. Historically, holders wishing to sell large block positions have released the shares into the public marketplace over a period of weeks or months, during which the price typically declines as the market reacts to the large volume of shares being sold. Through SecondMarket, buyers and sellers can engage in private transactions that enable sellers to trade their shares in a short period of time without public disclosures that can cause intra-trade price declines. While buyers can gain access to closely held securities that may otherwise be difficult to source.

Mar 15 2010

UPDATE 3-US earns $33 mln on bank warrant auctions this week — www.reuters.com

The U.S. Treasury said on Friday it earned $6.56 million auctioning warrants in Texas Capital Bancshares Inc pushing taxpayers' take for three sales this week to $33.1 million and boding well for future auctions of small bank warrants.
The $14.84 warrants sold for $8.85 each.

Mar 9 2010

Hedge fund ranking reveals nasty scars from financial crisis — www.pionline.com

Pensions & Investments' list of the world's largest hedge fund firms — those with at least $20 billion as of Dec. 31 — shows that assets managed by the 11 companies totaled $316.2 billion, virtually the same as the $316 billion managed by the 10 hedge fund managers that made P&I's last ranking, based on data as of Dec. 31, 2007
Hedge fund assets of three prominent firms — Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Renaissance Technologies Corp. and Citadel Investment Group — fell below the $20 billion cutoff, dropping the three from the ranking
Four hedge fund companies — institutionally-oriented Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP and Baupost Group LLC, as well as retail-focused Soros Fund Management LLC and Man Group PLC — joined P&I's list

Mar 8 2010

U.S. to Sell Warrants in Washington Federal, Two Other Lenders — www.bloomberg.com

Bank of America Corp. bailout warrants climbed in their first day of trading after the U.S. Treasury Department sold the securities in a record-setting auction
The sale grossed $1.57 billion after bids came in higher than some traders estimated. Group B warrants climbed 20 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $2.75 at 4:15 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, and Group A warrants advanced 6 cents to $8.41
“Most of the guys that I talk to think the warrants were pretty rich at the auction levels, and they have gotten even richer,” said Tim Freeman, head of U.S. equity derivatives sales at Capstone Global Markets LLC in New York