Tiger Asia Management Hedge Fund Said to Plan Guilty Plea

Tiger Asia Management LLC, the New York-based hedge fund run by Bill Hwang that had $1.2 billion as of August, is expected to plead guilty to wire fraud as part of a U.S. insider trading investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg reports that Hwang is set to appear in court Wednesday at noon in Newark, New Jersey federal court to enter the plea on behalf of the company, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

An e-mail to Hwang seeking comment on the plea wasn’t immediately returned. In August, the hedge fund said it was returning outside capital to investors amid a three-year probe by Hong Kong regulators. The fund, founded in January 2001, had produced annual returns averaging 16 percent since inception.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission alleged the hedge fund traded on inside information from bankers arranging placements of China Construction Bank Corp. and Bank of China Ltd. shares in 2008 and 2009, pocketing HK$38.5 million ($5 million). Tiger Asia, which has no employees and physical presence in Hong Kong, denied the allegations in an Oct. 12, 2010, letter to investors.

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Tiger Asia Management Hedge Fund Said to Plan Guilty Plea

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