NEW YORK, Sept. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP
(www.kaplanfox.com) and Wites & Kapetan, P.A.
(http://www.wklawyers.com) have filed a class action suit
against Investment Technology Group, Inc. ("ITG" or the "Company")
(NYSE: ITG), and certain of its executives, that alleges violations
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on behalf of purchasers of
ITG common stock during the period February
28, 2011 through August 3,
2015, inclusive (the "Class").
The case is pending in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York. A
copy of the Complaint may be obtained from Kaplan Fox's website, or from the Court.
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period,
Defendants made materially false and misleading statements to
investors concerning the Company's POSIT network, an Alternative
Trading System or "dark pool."
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, ITG
held itself out as an "agency-only" and "conflict-free" broker, and
represented that POSIT safeguarded client trading data, but omitted
to disclose: "(1) that, as detailed in the SEC Settlement Order,
between April 2010 through
July 2011, the Company operated a
proprietary trading pilot called 'Project Omega' within the
Company's AlterNet subsidiary that involved 'crossing against
sell-side clients in POSIT' and violations of the Company's
policies and procedures by Mittal, a former ITG Managing Director,
Head of Algorithmic Trading, and Head of Liquidity Management; (2)
that Mittal, while head of Project Omega, along with numerous other
employees, accessed private client data within the Company while
simultaneously operating a proprietary trading strategy, a clear
conflict of interest; (3) that this conduct violated Regulation
ATS; and (4) that the Company was under investigation for this
conduct by the SEC by Fall 2013, and faced an enforcement action by
May 2015, which threatened major
fines and legal costs as well as reputational harm to the Company
and loss of customers."
The Complaint further alleges that on July 29, 2015, after the market closed, "ITG
issued a press release disclosing, for the first time, the
underlying wrongful conduct and the SEC's investigation thereof
(the 'July 29 Press Release')," and
that "ITG expected to pay an aggregate amount of approximately
$20.3 million, including an
$18 million civil penalty,
disgorgement of $2.1 million in
improperly gotten trading revenues, and about $250,000 in prejudgment interest," pursuant to
the settlement. On July 30,
2015, ITG's stock price declined approximately 23.5%, or
$5.64 per share, to close at
$18.36 per share.
The Complaint further alleges that on August 3, 2015, before the market opened, "the
Company announced that it was replacing Gasser as CEO, as well as
its general counsel, Mats Goebels"
and that "[t]he Wall Street Journal reported that day that the
departures were related to Gasser's failure to disclose certain
details of the improper conduct relating to POSIT to the
Board." On August 3, 2015,
ITG's share price declined by approximately 4%, or $0.84 per share, to close at $19.51 per share.
The Complaint further alleges that on August 4, 2015, before the market opened, the
Company's Chief Financial Officer, Defendant Steven R. Vigliotti disclosed that "[i]n the
three trading days since we announced the potential SEC settlement…
in the U.S. our volume market share was down about 25%." On
August 4, 2015, ITG's share price
fell approximately 5.28%, or $1.03
per share, to close at $18.48 per
share.
The Complaint further alleges that on August 12, 2015, the SEC announced its settlement
with ITG, and released an Order that included "detailed admissions
of wrongdoing" by ITG, and imposed "a civil penalty in the amount
of $18,000,000 – the largest civil
penalty to date assessed by the SEC against an Alternative Trading
System" – in addition to over $2
million in disgorgement of wrongfully-gotten revenues and
pre-judgment interest of over $250,000.
On August 24, 2015, Reuters
reported that volume in ITG's dark pool had dropped by "nearly half
in the week-and-a-half after the brokerage disclosed it was near a
record settlement with regulators over violations in its so-called
'dark pool,'….Volume in the dark pool dropped 17.9 percent the week
of July 27, and fell another 32.8
percent by the end of the following week, for a total of 44.9
percent, according to data released on Monday by the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority."
If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the
court no later than October 5, 2015
to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class. You need not seek to
become a lead plaintiff in order to share in any possible
recovery.
For more information about Kaplan
Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, or to review a copy of the
complaint filed in this action, you may contact Kaplan Fox (www.kaplanfox.com) or Wites &
Kapetan (www.wklawyers.com).
If you have any questions about this Notice, the action, your
rights, or your interests, please contact:
Jeffrey P. Campisi
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
850 Third Avenue, 14th Floor
New York, New York 10022
(800) 290-1952
(212) 687-1980
Fax: (212) 687-7714
E-mail address: jcampisi@kaplanfox.com
Laurence D. King
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
350 Sansome Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, California
94104
Telephone: (415) 772-4700
Fax: 415-772-4707
E-mail address: lking@kaplanfox.com
Marc A. Wites
WITES & KAPETAN, P.A.
4400 North Federal Highway
Lighthouse Point, FL 33064
(954) 570-8989
Fax: (954) 354-0205
Email: mwites@wklawyers.com
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SOURCE Kaplan Fox &
Kilsheimer LLP