NOVA Chemical Corp (NCX)

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Someone had an unfair advantage:

SEC SETTLES INSIDER TRADING ACTION AGAINST ABU DHABI NATIONAL

Litigation Release No. 21307 / November 19, 2009

SEC v. Khaled Mohammed Sharif Al Sayed Al Hashemi a.k.a Khaled Al Hashemi, Civil Action No. 09-CV-6650 (S.D.N.Y.) (HB)

SEC SETTLES INSIDER TRADING ACTION AGAINST ABU DHABI NATIONAL

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") today announced the settlement of its claims against Khaled Al Hashemi, a citizen and resident of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for unlawful insider trading in the securities of Nova Chemicals Corporation ("Nova") before a February 23, 2009 merger announcement with International Petroleum Investment Company ("IPIC"). Hashemi, without admitting or denying the Commission's claims, consented to the entry of a final judgment enjoining him from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and directing him to pay a total of $875,000, comprised of disgorgement in the amount of $458,760, $9,620 in prejudgment interest, and a penalty of $406,620.

According to the Commission's Complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Hashemi purchased 120,000 shares of Nova common stock through his online brokerage account in the two weeks leading up to the merger announcement. These purchases began to accelerate as the merger date approached, as he made 54 percent of his total purchases on the last trading day before the announcement. Hashemi funded these purchases by liquidating nearly 80 percent of the value of his stock portfolio, and by wiring approximately $100,000 into his trading account. The complaint also alleges that, immediately prior to the merger announcement, Hashemi placed pre-market limit orders to sell some of the Nova stock that he had purchased in the preceding weeks at prices significantly higher than the previous trading day's closing price. On February 23, after the merger was announced, Nova's stock price increased 289 percent, and Hashemi sold his entire Nova position.

The Commission acknowledges the assistance of New York Stock Exchange Regulation in this matter.

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr21307.htm