Video - Paul Atkins - Former SEC Chairman
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Atkins, a former commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, talks about the resignation of David Sokol from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Atkins, speaking with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness," also discusses the Federal Reserve's release of secret loan documents under court order.
By Alice Schroeder
What were they thinking? How could Warren Buffett excuse David Sokol’s trading in Lubrizol stock while Sokol was pitching the company to Berkshire Hathaway as an acquisition candidate?
On Wall Street, we call this kind of trading front-running, and everybody knows that it is wrong. People get fired for doing it.
Buffett gave out a few facts in his press release yesterday, but the Schedule 14A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Lubrizol fills in the damning pieces. After deciding to pursue Lubrizol as an acquisition candidate for Berkshire in the fall of 2010, Sokol tried to buy 50,000 shares on Dec. 13, the day he presented Berkshire’s possible interest to Citigroup Inc. and asked it to set up a meeting with Lubrizol’s management. He was able to acquire only 2,300 shares, and sold them a week later.
On Jan. 5, the day before Lubrizol’s management held a special meeting to discuss a possible sale to Berkshire, Sokol began to buy stock again. The following day, Lubrizol hired Evercore Partners Inc. (EVR) as its banker to respond to the potential interest of Berkshire. By Jan. 7, Sokol had purchased 96,400 out of a targeted 100,000 Lubrizol shares.
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From earlier today: