Two Hong Kong-Based Firms to Pay $11 Million for Insider Trading Ahead of Nexen Acquisition by Company in China

SEC’s Quick Action After Trades Prevented Illegal Profits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2014-26


Washington D.C., Feb. 11, 2014 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that two Hong Kong-based asset management firms whose accounts were frozen in a major insider trading case have agreed to pay nearly $11 million to settle the charges against them.


The SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze in July 2012 against unknown traders just days after the announcement that China-based CNOOC Ltd. had agreed to acquire Canadian energy company Nexen Inc., causing more than a 50 percent spike in the price of Nexen shares. The SEC filed the emergency action after discovering that traders using brokerage accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore stood to make more than $13 million in potentially illicit profits.


Combined with earlier settlements in the case, the SEC has now obtained nearly $30 million in ill-gotten gains plus financial penalties from foreign traders who purchased Nexen stock while in possession of nonpublic information about the pending acquisition.


“The SEC’s swift action in this case ensured that traders located on the other side of the globe were not only deprived of their illegal insider trading profits but eventually paid steep penalties,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, senior associate director for enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Our efforts have recouped nearly $30 million and sent a strong deterrent message that insider trading in the U.S. even if carried out from overseas simply doesn’t pay.”


CITIC Securities International Investment Management (HK) Limited and China Shenghai Investment Management Limited agreed to pay $6.6 million and $4.3 million respectively. These two firms managed the last remaining frozen accounts in the case. Once SEC investigators located the suspicious accounts and froze their assets, they worked with foreign regulators and carefully scrutinized the trading records to identify the traders, setting the stage for a string of settlements by firms and individuals:
Hong Kong-based firm Well Advantage agreed to a $14.2 million settlement in October 2012.
A Chinese businessman, his private investment company, and his wife and her brokerage customers agreed to a $3.3 million settlement in March 2013.
A Singapore-based businesswoman agreed to a $566,000 settlement in May 2013.


The settlement with China Shenghai, approved earlier today by Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, requires disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains totaling $4,268,057.16 by the firm and eight clients on whose behalf Nexen stock trades were made in the week leading up to the public announcement: Biggain Holdings Limited, Classictime Investments Limited, Feng Hai Yan, Gao Mei, Sparky International Trade Co., Stephen Wang Sang Wong, Zhang Jing Wei, and Zheng Rong. They neither admitted nor denied the allegations.


The settlement with CITIC Securities, approved by the court in late January, requires the firm to pay $3,299,596.84 in disgorgement and a $3,299,596.84 penalty for purchasing shares of Nexen stock in the U.S. for the accounts of two of its affiliates. The firm neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The disgorgement amount represents the total profits that the firm and its affiliates obtained. The SEC acknowledges the cooperation of CITIC Securities and its parent company CITIC Securities International Company Limited in the investigation.


The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Simona Suh, Charles D. Riely, Michael P. Holland, and Joseph G. Sansone of the Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit as well as Elzbieta Wraga and Aaron Arnzen of the New York Regional Office. The case has been supervised by Daniel M. Hawke and Sanjay Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370540775561

Nexen jumps after Canada OKs CNOOC's takeover
Shares of energy company Nexen jump after Canada OKs CNOOC's $15.1 billion takeover

Associated Press – 1 hour 13 minutes ago
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RELATED QUOTES
Symbol Price Change
NXY 26.780001 3.26
NXY.TO 26.48 3.19

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of energy producer Nexen Inc. jumped Monday after Canada approved a proposal from China's state-owned CNOOC to buy the Canadian oil and gas producer for $15.1 billion.
THE SPARK: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper approved the acquisition Friday after several months of review.
BACKGROUND: Nexen, a mid-tier energy company, operates in western Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, Africa and the Middle East. Its biggest reserves are in the Canadian oil sands. It produced an average of 213,000 barrels of oil a day in the second quarter.
The board of the Calgary, Alberta, company approved the takeover in July after CNOOC offered a 62 percent premium on the stock price. Shareholders also have approved the sale. The transaction still needs to be approved in Britain and the U.S. where Nexen has assets.
The acquisition would vastly expand CNOOC's holdings in Canada, where the company already has invested about $2.8 billion.
Concerns had been raised that such approvals could lead to a flood of deals that put control of Canada's vast energy resources in Chinese hands, but Harper said the approval should be seen as the end of a trend, not the beginning. He said no other industrialized country would allow a major sector of its economy to be taken over by state-owned companies from another country.
SHARE ACTION: Shares of Nexen increased $3.34, or 14.2 percent, to $26.86 in midday trading after rising as high as $26.98 earlier in the session, its highest level since March 2011.
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Nexen Inc. has a 1-Year Projected Earnings Per Share Growth Rate of 40.30%, and a Analysts' Rating of 2.50. The short interest was 0.31% as of 08/17/2012.

Nexen Inc. (Nexen) is an independent, Canadian-based, global energy company. Nexen operates in four segments: oil and gas, Syncrude, energy marketing and chemicals.

Nexen Inc. has completed the previously announced sale of a 40 percent interest in our northeast British Columbia shale gas assets to a consortium led by Inpex Corp. of Japan. The total consideration for the sale is $700 million, with 50 percent cash and a 50 percent capital carry, effective July 1, 2011.

With the deal closed, Nexen now holds a 60 percent operated interest in the joint venture lands, which are located in the Horn River, Cordova and Liard basins of northeast BC. The remaining 40 percent is now owned by Inpex Gas British Columbia Ltd. (IGBC), which is jointly established by Inpex and JGC Corporation.

Upon closing, we receive $821 million in cash, comprised of the initial cash payment and IGBC's share of costs since the effective date of the transaction, including reimbursement of their 40 percent share of capital and payment of capital carry on our 60 percent share. The remaining carry amount is approximately $106 million. We expect to record a gain on the sale in our third quarter financial results.

Nexen and IGBC are continuing with completion activities on an 18-well pad in the Horn River and expanding in-field facilities. The 18-well pad is slated to come on-stream in the fourth quarter and the facility expansion will increase our current production capacity to about 175 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) from approximately 50 MMcf/d. Nexen and IGBC plan to develop this resource as economic conditions permit. We have also agreed to jointly investigate the feasibility of LNG export opportunities.

"This is the beginning of a valuable long-term strategic partnership," said Kevin Reinhart, Nexen's interim President and CEO. "Our new partners have technical and commercial strengths that complement our own, and we look forward to working with them to capture the value of this vast resource."

Nexen provides update on operations in Yemen; application to extend the PSA on Block 14 has not been accepted (NXY) 14.70 : Co reports it has been informed by the Government of Yemen that its application to extend the Production Sharing Agreement on Block 14 has not been accepted. As a result, the PSA will expire on December 17, 2011. The block will then be operated by a newly created Yemen national operating co. The decrease in our overall production volumes resulting from the contract expiry will be mitigated by the start-up of the Usan project, offshore West Africa, which is expected to begin production in the first half of 2012. This change in production mix is expected to contribute to higher cash flow from operations in 2012 as Usan's anticipated netback is about double the Yemen netback at current prices. The PSA expiry will not have any effect on co's reserves, as we did not book any barrels beyond the PSA term. Similarly, all capital costs have been amortized over the contract period.

Dirt Cheap Stock.... Expect NXY to trade above $50 within 2 years. Nice Income and Double Potential.

LONG NXY


Van

Investor Update
http://www.nexeninc.com/files/presentations/investor_roadshows.pdf

(CNCN) Nexen Presents at the 2008 Credit Suisse Energy Summit
January 31, 2008 6:34 p.m.

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Jan. 31, 2008) - Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY) (NYSE:NXY) announces that Tim Thomas, Senior Vice President - Canadian Oil and Gas, will present at the following investor conference:


2008 Credit Suisse Energy Summit - Vail, CO
Date: Friday February 8, 2008
Time: 10:00 am Mountain Time (12:00 pm Eastern Time)


We invite you to visit our website at www.nexeninc.com to view the live webcast of Tim's presentation. The webcast will be archived under the Investors section of our website.

Nexen Inc. is an independent, Canadian-based global energy company, listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol NXY. We are uniquely positioned for growth in the North Sea, deep-water Gulf of Mexico, the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, the Middle East and West Africa. We add value for shareholders through successful full-cycle oil and gas exploration and development and leadership in ethics, integrity and environmental protection.




FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Sean Noe, P.Eng
Analyst, Investor Relations
(403) 699-4494
or
Nexen Inc.
801 - 7th Ave SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3P7
Website: www.nexeninc.com

NXY went on a short-term buy signal last Friday...

Nexen a good stock fundamentally--not sure technically...

Ok,we have a new board,DD Time.