Bank of America is investigating a whistleblower complaint alleging that bankers shared private transaction details ahead of a stock sale in India, per a new Wall Street Journal report.
By allegedly receiving nonpublic information ahead of the sale, which was announced this spring, investors would have been able to hypothetically engage in “front-run” betting, using their knowledge of the deal to anticipate how shares would perform.
The whistleblower filed the complaint in June, and also shared it with India’s securities regulator and Bank of America’s head of investment banking in Asia, according to the Journal. Front-running is illegal in India, while Bank of America policy prohibits bankers from “sharing nonpublic information about deals,” the WSJ noted.
One of the three deals named in the complaint concerned “a roughly $200 million sale of stock for a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla and financial firm Sun Life” along with a $500 million IPO and a $300 million rights deal.
A Bank of America spokesperson told the WSJ and Reuters that the organization hasn’t found evidence to support the whistleblower’s allegations.
“We take complaints seriously and thoroughly investigate them,” the spokesperson said. “In instances where we conclude there has been inappropriate behavior, we take disciplinary action.”
Bank of America’s competitive workplace culture has been under closer scrutiny following the death of a young associate in the bank’s New York office who was clocking “grueling hours.”
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