SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 17045 \ June 21, 2001

SEC V. EURO SECURITY FUND, GIOVANNI PIACITELLI, RON SLEEGERS, INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES CONSULTING B.V., MRS. URS HELLER, MEINDERT PANAGIOTIS HAKKERT, FRANCK HAKKERT, H.J.M. DE BOER, C.J. BROEKEMA, E.H. VAN GEENEN, HENDRIK MARINUS BOUWMEESTER, HANS P. ROMANESKO, MRS. A. VERKAIK, AND ONE OR MORE UNKNOWN PURCHASERS OF COMMON STOCK OF ELSAG BAILEY PROCESS AUTOMATION, N.V., CIVIL ACTION NO. 98 CIV. 7347 (S.D.N.Y.) (DLC, MHD)

SEC SETTLES INSIDER TRADING CHARGES AGAINST FORMER SWISS-BASED BROKER; OBTAINS MORE THAN $350,000

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on June 18, 2001, Judge Denise L. Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment in the SEC's case against Giovanni Piacitelli, a former stockbroker at Schroder & Co., Inc.'s offices in Switzerland, requiring him to pay more than $350,000. The amounts to be paid by Piacitelli will be in addition to over $11 million in disgorgement and penalties obtained previously in this case and a related litigation.

The Commission's Amended Complaint, filed on November 17, 1998, alleges that Piacitelli purchased 10,000 shares of Elsag Bailey Process Automation, N.V. stock while he possessed material, nonpublic information about Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.'s October 14, 1998 tender offer for Elsag. At the time of his Elsag purchase, Piacitelli was a broker in the Swiss offices of Schroder. The Amended Complaint alleges that, a day before Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. announced its tender offer for Elsag, Piacitelli made the Elsag purchase through an account at Banco Del Gottardo in Luxembourg. Piacitelli did not disclose his interest in this account to Schroder despite Schroder's policy requiring him to do so. After the announcement, Elsag's stock price increased by about 90%, and Piacitelli's potential profits were $164,375.00 on his Elsag purchase. As a result of the emergency action filed on October 19, 1998, and asset freeze entered by Judge Cote on the same day, Piacitelli was unable to withdraw his profits.
In September 2000, Judge Cote issued a written opinion in this case denying Piacitelli's Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Reconsideration of the denial. See SEC v. Euro Security Fund, et. al., 2000 WL 1376246 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2000). The court held that, notwithstanding Piacitelli's denials, a jury could find that Piacitelli had inside information based upon circumstantial evidence and the suspicious timing of the Elsag trades.
Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, Piacitelli consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violations of Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 14e-3. Piacitelli agreed to disgorge $164,375.00 in profits and $1,740.00 in commissions from the Elsag trades, to pay prejudgment interest, and to pay a civil penalty of $164,375.00.
The SEC's litigation in this case continues against the remaining defendants, including one or more unknown purchasers. For more information about this case, please see Litigation Release No. 15942 (October 20, 1998), Litigation Release No. 15981 (November 19, 1998), Litigation Release No. 16196 (June 28, 1999), and Litigation Release No. 16367 (November 22, 1999).