Amaya CEO David Baazov charged with insider trading (3/23), steps down as CEO (3/29/16) - Page 25 - Poker News

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Amaya CEO David Baazov charged with insider trading (3/23), steps down as CEO (3/29/16)

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04-26-2016 , 09:03 AM

#601

OmahaFanatical4

banned

Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 5,123

Quote:

surely you don't believe that insider trading is victim-less or should not be a crime, so what is your reason for posting all this?

Surely I do, and have said so multiple times.

Quote

04-26-2016 , 09:51 AM

#602

PasswordGotHacked

banned

Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 2,913

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmahaFanatical4

I wasn't making an analogy, I was demonstrating how one can cause economic harm in a non criminal fashion.

how is that at all relevant here??????

It's about as relevant as the fact I like blueberries but not so much blackberries

Last edited by PasswordGotHacked; 04-26-2016 at 09:53 AM. Reason: Can't believe you are carrying this on.............. How high are you?

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04-26-2016 , 09:55 AM

#603

TheDefiniteArticle

Indecisive

Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 14,125

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmahaFanatical4

I am in favour of law but I do feel that western societies have begun to devolve, that law has been perverted, as Bastiat said, from a tool for protecting property rights into an instrument of plunder.

You know an NVG thread has gone full ****** when someone cites Bastiat.

Quote

04-26-2016 , 10:03 AM

#604

Monorail

adept

Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 991

This thread was actually pretty good / high-quality. Let's keep it that way. OmahaFanatical, stop posting / trolling plz.

Quote

04-26-2016 , 10:13 AM

#605

OmahaFanatical4

banned

Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 5,123

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monorail

This thread was actually pretty good / high-quality. Let's keep it that way. OmahaFanatical, stop posting / trolling plz.

There's an ignore feature, feel free to use it.

Quote

04-26-2016 , 12:21 PM

#606

LektorAJ

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 7,875

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmahaFanatical4

okay but this is circular logic. It's wrong because it's illegal and it's illegal because it's wrong. But what if it is a case of malum prohibitum but not malum in se

Yes, but those rules are the basis on which the other players in the Holdem game, or the other people buying and selling shares/stocks on a particular exchange, have agreed to interact with each other.

If you want to sign an agreement with your friends, or a group of people who feel the same way as you do, whereby you can buy and sell shares amongst each other without being subject to insider trading rules then I don't have any objection to it fwiw - just as I don't have objection to your swapping cards you don't like with ones from the deck in a draw poker game.

Quote

04-28-2016 , 02:02 AM

#607

SantaCruz

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4,161

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmahaFanatical4

I also don't see how insider trading laws are beneficial. It's not a huge deal obviously, and there are a ton of other laws which would be more beneficial to repeal, but all these laws do is make the market slightly less efficient. I'd rather share prices more closely reflected the actual value of companies.

If insider trading was allowed, huge profits could be made by company managers manipulating stock values via false statements of intent. It would have a serious destabilizing effect on the stock market.

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04-28-2016 , 04:35 AM

#608

Alexdb

grinder

Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 618

Wouldn't shareholders via the board just privately restrict managers' trading options to avoid that problem?

Quote

04-28-2016 , 05:21 AM

#609

SantaCruz

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4,161

What about friends and relatives of the managers? And what would keep shareholders and managers from simply selling already owned shares after the stock is artificially jacked up? Also, there is no way for shareholders to indefinitely restrict managers options, which is what would need to be done if the managers are free to chose whatever time they want to manipulate the stock value.

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04-28-2016 , 06:52 AM

#610

NerdSuperfly

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 2,172

Quote:

Originally Posted by SantaCruz

i guess there will be always some loopholes or methods, insider trading will happen. but there's still no reason, not to set up rules or prosecute offenders imo

Quote

05-03-2016 , 12:20 AM

#611

Nash_equilibria

veteran

Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 2,663

Baazov and his associates Yoel Altman and Benjamin Ahdoot have all pleaded not guilty.

Quote

05-03-2016 , 08:00 AM

#612

SootedPowa

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 3,942

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nash_equilibria

Baazov and his associates Yoel Altman and Benjamin Ahdoot have all pleaded not guilty.

They seem extremely guilty to me on what is publically known which would make this plea a dumb thing to do. Of course that is just an assumption. We will see what evidence the canadian authorities can bring (one would hope pretty convincing), thanks for the update

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05-03-2016 , 08:48 AM

#613

NerdSuperfly

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 2,172

Quote:

Originally Posted by SootedPowa

i don't know the canadian laws, but the articles says, that they have to appoint a judge and set dates for the trial. so this 'plea' might be nothing more, than a formal way of statement (about the AMF investigation) and not a binding plea.

besides that, just because baazov took the vip rewards and has a weird history of management, it won't change the fact, that AMF needs proofs ... i know, obviously they seem to have evidence, but so far this thread didn't deliver any specific information regarding the case. so they can "look as guilty" as you think and still walk free

anyway ... i hope the trial won't take ages

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05-03-2016 , 09:31 AM

#614

AnotherMakiavelli

old hand

Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 1,451

imo this is neutralizing all the ronaldo promos

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05-03-2016 , 10:22 AM

#615

_Loki_

adept

Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1,036

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnotherMakiaveli

imo this is neutralizing all the ronaldo promos

How is it doing that? It's not front page news & most people don't read the financial pages. In fact most people don't even read the news in any medium. I know about it - my online poker friends know about it - we all still play at PS.

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05-03-2016 , 12:43 PM

#616

Uhrenknecht

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 3,896

Who is the new CEO and did he actually do anything different regarding stars management?

Quote

05-03-2016 , 01:53 PM

#617

_Loki_

adept

Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1,036

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uhrenknecht

[1] Who is the new CEO and [2] did he actually do anything different regarding stars management?

I don't understand what you're asking for in [2] exactly, but generally speaking the boat is heading on the same course. In answer to [1]

Quote:

RAFI ASHKENAZI currently serves as the Interim CEO of Amaya and is responsible for overseeing its day-to-day business affairs and devising and implementing its business plan and strategies.

Mr. Ashkenazi is also the CEO for Amaya’s operating business, Rational Group, and is responsible for the performance and strategy of the group and its brands, including PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Mr. Ashkenazi, who initially joined Rational Group in January 2013 as Chief Operating Officer, is an experienced gaming industry executive who previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Playtech plc (LSE: PTEC), a global gaming software development company, from January 2006 to January 2010 and then from September 2011 to January 2013, and as a member of the board of directors of Playtech from March 2006 to January 2010. From January 2010 to September 2011, Mr. Ashkenazi served as Vice President of Business Operations of Playtech. He was appointed Senior Vice President of Strategy for Amaya in April 2015 and then Chief Executive Officer of Rational Group in November 2015. Mr. Ashkenazi graduated with honors from Shenkar College in Israel where he earned a B.A. in Industrial Engineering

Source: http://www.amaya.com/amaya/leadership/

Rafi reported directly to Mark Scheinberg while Mark was still at Rational Group & of course he knows Isai Scheinburg well too for quite some years...

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05-03-2016 , 04:29 PM

#618

Bobo Fett

Carpe Diem

Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 57,426

Quote:

Originally Posted by SootedPowa

The wisdom of a particular plea has nothing to do with how guilty he appears to be, or actually is, but on how likely he is to be convicted and/or what kind of plea deal he could get (if any).

Quote

05-03-2016 , 05:33 PM

#619

ESW

journeyman

Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 235

The not guilty plea is standard procedure for most crimes, except stuff like DUI's where it's generally accepted that the police's breathalyzer test results are reliable, and nobody's been hurt so there person's not facing jail time.

Once they enter the discovery phase, both sides will have a chance to learn more about the sorts of evidence the other side has, and once that happens it's more common for deals to be offered at that point, or during trial when they have a chance to learn more about what sorts of arguments the other side is trying to make.

So yeah, it's still early.

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05-04-2016 , 12:28 AM

#620

H0LDiT

aka plzjustHOLD

Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 1,809

Cliffs on the latest?

Quote

05-04-2016 , 02:59 AM

#621

NerdSuperfly

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 2,172

Quote:

Originally Posted by H0LDiT

Cliffs on the latest?

http://www.onlinepokerreport.com/206...t-guilty-plea/

Quote

05-09-2016 , 01:54 PM

#622

PTLou

JellyBean

Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5,516

Blackstone exercised AYA warrants late April.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/blackstone-boosts-amaya-stake/article29747296/

Purchased 11M common shares a .01 per share (pretty sweet warrant btw... basically gave them 11M shares on top of all else they earned as part of original acquistion)

Quote:

GSO Capital Partners said the funds acquired the shares “for investment purposes and to enable GSO to exercise voting rights attached to such common shares, including in connection with any transaction or other matter submitted for shareholder approval

can't decide if Baazov's interests are aligned with Blackstone or not.

Quote

05-09-2016 , 06:41 PM

#623

Gramps

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 6,589

The original Stars deal makes a lot more sense now numbers-wise. Amaya had/has outstanding (unsecured) loans @~15% interest, but got ~$3 billion in loans for the PokerStars acquisition at a fraction of that interest rate.....a nice 5%+/9-figure kick-in (in warrants/stock) gives a truer picture of the risk premium required for their loans.

Makes sense that if a private offer(s) is coming, Blackrock/GSO would want as much voting leverage as possible for the best price/terms. Especially since a large shareholder is incentivized to lowball the other stakeholders.

Last edited by Gramps; 05-09-2016 at 06:49 PM. Reason: I.e. Baazov trying to take Amaya private, financed by someone other than Blackrock

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05-18-2016 , 10:04 AM

#624

oracle3001

adept

Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 790

Currently on a leave of absence, Amaya Chairman, President and CEO David Baazov will not seek re-election to the board when shareholders convene for their annual meeting later this year.

http://pokerfuse.com/news/industry/2...n-amaya-board/