You can add Daniel Senn to the list of current and not-so-current KPMG employees and representatives, such as Scott London, Andrei Postrado, Thomas Avent, and Phil Mickelson (but not his KPMG hat), who have either been accused of, or found guilty of, insider trading.
Senn, a Klynveldian auditor from 2007 to 2013, was convicted of insider trading by Switzerland’s top criminal court over trades he made in 2011 on an undisclosed takeover bid, according to a Bloomberg report.
Senn was the lead auditor of Julius Baer, the third-largest wealth manager in Switzerland, and he reportedly had “direct knowledge of confidential information” relating to Julius Baer’s plans to take over a small rival bank in 2011, which according to published reports was private Swiss bank Sarasin.
According to Finews.com, Senn was at a Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority meeting in September 2011 when the planned takeover was discussed.
Finews.com reported:
After the Finma meeting Senn bought 2,000 Sarasin shares for 50,000 Swiss francs ($49,900), and shortly afterwards increased his stake, with the shares then being booked onto an account held by his children.
In October the takeover discussions were revealed and the Sarasin shares jumped 15 percent, giving Senn a profit of 30,000 francs. Julius Baer didn’t eventually do a deal with Sarasin, which was taken over by [Brazilian-Swiss private bank] Safra.
He was indicted on insider trading charges in July.
Senn was fined 5,000 Swiss francs ($5,050) and faces a further penalty of 68,800 francs if he breaks the terms of his two-year probation, according to Bloomberg. He also must give back the 29,073 francs in profits to the Swiss government and pay 13,192 francs in court costs.
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