Datek Postpones IPO While Under Investigation, Paper Says
Iselin, New Jersey, July 8 (Bloomberg) -- The widening
investigations into the trading practices of Datek Online
Holdings Corp., one of America's fastest growing online stock
brokerages, forced the Iselin, New Jersey-based company to
postpone an initial public offering of its stock, the New York
Times reported in its ''Market Place'' column, citing
unidentified bankers.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is now looking
into whether Datek offered customers guaranteed stock
returns, a practice that violates SEC anti-fraud laws.
The agency, which began an initial investigation into offshore
transactions, is also investigating whether Datek encouraged
illegal trading practices by some of the more than 200 day
traders on its desks in the 1990's, the paper said, citing
unidentified sources who said they were interviewed by the SEC
two weeks ago.
Datek Online ranked fourth among online brokerage firms at
the end of last year in terms of average daily transactions
behind Charles Schwab Corp., E*Trade Group Inc. and Waterhouse
Securities, according to Piper Jaffray Cos.
o~~~ O
|
