Swiss pharma executive gets US sanction for insider trading
The culprit was a head of strategy at Roche, which is headquartered in Switzerland at the Roche tower in Basel.
Keystone
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Lorenz Erne, a former senior executive at Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, for insider trading and ordered him to pay back the ill-gotten profits.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/jc
Erne accepted the accusations and agreed to the terms of a settlement with the SEC, according to an SEC documentExternal link published on Thursday. He has to pay back $159,228 (CHF156,000) plus a fine of $79,614 within 14 days to the SEC “for transfer to the general fund of the United States Treasury”.
The case concerns insider trading in the shares of American gene therapy company Spark Therapeutics ahead of a February 25, 2019, announcement that a Roche affiliate company and Spark had reached a merger agreement.
Erne “traded while in possession of material, non-public information that he learned in the course of his employment at Hoffmann-La Roche”, making profits as Spark shares rose by 120%.
At the time of the trading, Erne was head of the Strategy Office at Roche Global Technical Operations in the Pharmaceuticals Division.
More
More
GE, Roche, Spark: flair for genes
This content was published on
The fear of missing out is a powerful motivator. Dealmaking in healthcare is often fuelled by a drive to outbid rivals for cutting-edge technology.
German financial fraudster sent to prison by Swiss court
This content was published on
The financier Florian Homm has been sentenced to six years and seven months in prison without probation. He was found guilty of commercial fraud, serious money laundering and forgery of documents.
This content was published on
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is buying in the United States. The biopharmaceutical company Tourmaline Bio is to be acquired for around $1.4 billion (CHF1.1 billion).
Swiss Senate rejects sanctions against Israeli settlers
This content was published on
The Swiss Senate has rejected a call for Switzerland to join the EU’s sanctions against violent Israeli settlers. The majority also did not want an end to military cooperation with Israel.
Zurich authorities want ‘no taxpayer money for terrorists’
This content was published on
Zurich cantonal parliament has voted against recognising the state of Palestine. However, it provisionally supported a motion calling for “no taxpayers' money for terrorists”.
Swiss mechanical firms were struggling before Trump
This content was published on
Swiss mechanical engineering companies are said to be one of the main victims of Donald Trump's high tariffs. However, the industry has been struggling for years.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Former KPMG auditor Senn sentenced for insider trading
This content was published on
The court heard that in September 2011 Senn used his privileged knowledge to buy shares in Safra Sarasin private bank. Senn was the lead auditor at Julius Baer bank during his partnership with KPMG from 2007 to 2013. In this function, he is said to have known since July 2011 that Julius Baer had plans…
Financial expert fined in Holcim insider trading case
This content was published on
A Swiss court has found a Zurich-based financial expert guilty of insider trading linked to the merger of cement producers Lafarge and Holcim.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.