作者：胡贝、朱莉娅·菲奥雷蒂（Julia Fioretti）、凯瑟琳·多尔蒂（Katherine Doherty）和Kiuyan Wong Segantii Capital Management创始人西蒙·萨德勒（Simon Sadler）本周返回香港法院，检方在一起备受瞩目的内幕交易案中发表了结案陈词，该案件引起了香港对冲基金界的关注。
Capital Management’s founder Simon Sadler returned to a Hong Kong court this week, as the prosecution delivered its closing argument in a high-profile insider trading case that has gripped the city’s hedge fund community.
曾被称为亚洲“大宗交易之王”的萨德勒正在接受审判，罪名是与香港上市时尚零售商思捷环球控股有限公司（Esprit Holdings Ltd.）自2017年6月以来的一系列交易有关。这些交易是在美国对冲基金公司Lone Pine Capital出售其在Esprit的股份之前进行的，并且是在Segantii员工与时任美国银行交易员托尼·普萨里亚诺斯（Tony Psarianos）之间通话之后进行的。
Sadler, once known as Asia’s “block trade king,” is standing trial on insider-trading charges linked to a series of trades in Hong Kong-listed fashion retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd. dating back to June 2017. The trades came before US hedge fund firm Lone Pine Capital sold its stake in Esprit, and followed calls between Segantii staff and Tony Psarianos, a Bank of America Corp. trader at the time.
检察官周二表示，辩方的案件在证据的重压下“崩溃”。在长达一个多月的诉讼中，检方和辩方展示了大量电子邮件，播放了电话录音，并传唤了包括Psarianos和另一名前美国银行雇员Anshul Trivedi在内的证人。
Prosecutors said on Tuesday that the defense’s case “collapses” under the weight of evidence. In proceedings lasting more than a month, prosecution and defense displayed numerous emails, played phone recordings, and called witnesses including Psarianos and Anshul Trivedi, another former Bank of America employee.
尽管检察官莎拉·克拉克（Sarah Clarke）的大部分论点都集中在香港证券法和判例的细节上，但她的基本主张很简单：除了拥有内幕消息外，萨德勒和前Segantii交易员丹尼尔·拉罗卡（Daniel La Rocca）在大宗交易前一天出售Esprit股票没有合理的解释。
Although much of prosecutor Sarah Clarke’s argument focused on the minutiae of Hong Kong securities law and legal precedents, her basic claim was simple: There was no plausible explanation for Sadler and former Segantii trader Daniel La Rocca selling Esprit shares the day before the block trade except their possession of inside information.
辩护律师将有机会在未来几天内对此作出回应，但萨德勒早些时候的证词表明，可能的反驳。他此前告诉法庭，在他阅读了前Segantii分析师Vikki Huang撰写的关于Esprit的研究报告后，他感到随着时间的推移，这个职位变得“懒惰、陈腐”。
Defense lawyers will get a chance to respond to that in the coming days, but Sadler’s earlier testimony suggested the likely counter-argument. He previously told the court that the selling came after he read research on Esprit written by former Segantii analyst Vikki Huang, and that he felt the position had become “lazy, stale” over time.
该审判自六月底以来一直休庭，预计将于本周结束，但判决将在晚些时候公布。萨德勒正在与拉罗卡和公司本身一起受审，这意味着单独的辩护团队仍必须提出论点。
The trial, which had been adjourned since the end of June, is expected to wrap up this week, although the verdict will come later. Sadler is standing trial alongside La Rocca and the firm itself, meaning separate defense teams still have to make arguments.
萨德勒于2007年以2600万美元创立了Segantii，最终积累了超过60亿美元的资产。他将该公司与Marshall Wace和Jane Street等规模更大的全球公司一起，成为试图在该地区进行股权出售的银行的首批停靠港之一。
Sadler founded Segantii in 2007 with just $26 million, and eventually amassed assets of more than $6 billion. He turned the firm into one of the first ports of call for banks trying to pull off equity sales in the region, alongside much larger global firms such as Marshall Wace and Jane Street.
该审判的中心是Lone Pine出售其在Esprit剩余的全部10%股份，这笔交易相当于该股当时日均交易量的60多倍。检方指控萨德勒和拉罗卡根据普萨里亚诺斯在交易前提供的价格敏感内幕信息行事。
The trial centers around Lone Pine’s sale of its entire remaining 10% stake in Esprit, a deal that was equivalent to more than 60 times the stock’s average daily trading volumes at the time. The prosecution alleged that Sadler and La Rocca acted on price-sensitive inside information given by Psarianos ahead of the deal.
在Lone Pine向美国银行发出交易命令的前一天，Psarianos告诉La Rocca，Esprit的一位未透露姓名的股东正在考虑出售至少1.9亿股股票。La Rocca很快发现Lone Pine Capital正在考虑处置其剩余股份。他给萨德勒和塞甘蒂的其他同事发送了一封电子邮件，让他们知道这一点。
The day before Lone Pine gave Bank of America the order for the trade, Psarianos told La Rocca that an unnamed shareholder in Esprit was considering selling at least 190 million shares. La Rocca quickly figured out that Lone Pine Capital was mulling the disposal of its remaining stake. He sent an email to Sadler and other Segantii colleagues letting them know.
检方指控，几个小时内，他们开始出售Segantii已经拥有的Esprit股票，并通过一系列价值略高于100万美元的交易建立了空头头寸--对于一家当时管理数十亿美元的公司来说，这只是一笔小钱。
The prosecution alleged that, within hours, they began to sell Esprit shares Segantii already owned and built a short position through a series of trades worth just over $1 million — a tiny sum for a firm that managed billions of dollars at the time.
萨德勒此前告诉法庭，截至2017年6月14日收盘，他自己的策略仍持有当天初持有的Esprit股票的65%。他说，Segantii持有的空头头寸是这家多策略公司的“库存管理”。
Sadler previously told the court that at the close of June 14, 2017, his own strategy still had 65% of the Esprit shares he held at the start of the day. A short position taken by Segantii was “inventory management” at the multi-strategy firm, he said.
香港证券监管机构于2024年5月对Sadler、La Rocca和该公司提起刑事诉讼。这些指控促使投资者赎回，并导致银行限制或审查其与曾经令人垂涎的对冲基金客户的关系。
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog initiated criminal proceedings against Sadler, La Rocca and the firm in May 2024. The allegations prompted investors to redeem and led banks to limit or review their relationships with the once-coveted hedge fund client.
几周内，Segantii在香港、纽约和伦敦拥有约140名员工，宣布将向投资者返还资本。
Within weeks, Segantii — which had employed about 140 people in Hong Kong, New York and London — announced it was returning capital to investors.