SEC: Overstock Isn’t Behind Probe

The SEC has said that Overstock.com isn’t behind the investigation into a short-selling ring:

The chief executive of Overstock.com on Wednesday said federal regulators, not the online retailer, were behind the investigation into business journalists as part of a probe into alleged manipulation of the company’s stock.
Patrick Byrne told business news network CNBC that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent subpoenas of journalists who had criticized Overstock came at the agency’s own initiative.
The San Francisco office of the SEC took the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to two Dow Jones & Co. columnists, Carol Remond and Herb Greenberg, to demand telephone records, e-mails and other documents related to Overstock.com.
“It’s my sense that the SEC was onto Herb’s scent long before we came along,” Byrne said. “I have not orchestrated the SEC investigation.”
Byrne acknowledged speaking to SEC officials about the probe, but dismissed the notion that the subpoenas were related to a lawsuit Overstock filed in August against hedge fund Rocker Partners and research firm Gradient Analytics.

Posted by on March 1st, 2006 at 10:57 am


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