Terry Davidson’s Jive Session
I was browsing through the Standard’s business section and I came upon this story on the Uchumi debacle and the subsequent share dumb that occurred right before Uchumi shut down. This quote from Terry Davidson got my attention.
Here it is:
Former Kenya Commercial Bank chief executive, Mr Terry Davidson, is one of the key personalities questioned. He was put on the spot by the market regulators after investigations revealed he sold 300,000 Uchumi shares in the days before the company was put into receivership.
Davidson’s position on the sale has been tricky since it was KCB, jointly with PTA Bank, that moved in to take control of Uchumi after the board threw in the towel. When contacted by FS, Davidson confirmed that he actually sold the 300,000 shares in the final days of Uchumi’s trading. However, he denied that the transaction was due to prior knowledge of the impending closure of Uchumi.
“I initiated the transaction long before any major decision was made,” he says. “It was purely coincidental that the transaction was completed in the final day of Uchumi’s trading.” Davidson told FS that he had instructed Suntra Stocks to sell 500,000 shares on May 9 last year: 300,000 Uchumi shares and 200,000 KCB shares. He added that the Uchumi transaction delayed due to a technical problem with one of his bankers. “As a result, the deal just was just concluded just hours before the announcement,”.
As George Bush would say: Is Terry Davidson mis-underestimating me? (please note that the word mis-underestimate does not exist in the English language. In addition to making up facts, George Bush has been known to make up words)
This is why I don’t even try to predict what will happen to company stocks. There’s very little oversight and you have no idea what will happen.
He could be telling the truth could he not? Man, I saw your headline and though to come and hear about some music or something, now I find its insider trading.
Is this not simply how the game is played on the NSE? Is it even illegal?
I think it’s how the game is played everywhere, not just the NSE. The only difference is that in America, if the SEC catches you, you’ll be in big dudu.