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单词 risk arbitrage
释义

risk arbitrage


risk arbitrage

n. The simultaneous purchase and sale of assets that are potentially but not necessarily equivalent in order to exploit a discrepancy in price.
risk arbitrageur n.
Thesaurus
Noun1.risk arbitrage - arbitrage involving risk; as in the simultaneous purchase of stock in a target company and sale of stock in its potential acquirer; if the takeover fails the arbitrageur may lose a great deal of moneytakeover arbitragearbitrage - a kind of hedged investment meant to capture slight differences in price; when there is a difference in the price of something on two different markets the arbitrageur simultaneously buys at the lower price and sells at the higher price

Risk Arbitrage


Related to Risk Arbitrage: Merger arbitrage

Risk Arbitrage

The purchase of stock in a corporation that appears to be the target of an imminent takeover in the hope of making large profits if the takeover occurs.

Risk arbitrage is practiced by investors called risk arbitrageurs. The strategy can return large profits if a takeover occurs but can also result in large losses if the transaction does not take place. Obviously, then, the more information an arbitrageur has about a possible takeover, the less risk the strategy involves. Buying Securities of takeover candidates on the basis of rumors is legal, but it is illegal for an arbitrageur to purchase securities based on inside, or nonpublic, information. Insider trading violates rule 10(b)-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C.A. § 78a et seq., which is a federal law that governs the operation of the stock exchanges and over-the-counter trading.

To obtain information, arbitrageurs often develop relationships with investment banking firms and corporations, as well as with other sources of information and financial backing. These activities alone do not constitute a violation of the Securities Exchange Act, but if the risk arbitrageur uses these relationships or resources to gather information that is not available to the general public, the resulting purchase of securities is illegal.

In the late 1980s, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began to investigate several prominent risk arbitrageurs for their roles in insider trading. This action, combined with the increasing number of corporate takeovers, brought the issue of risk Arbitrage to the headlines of Wall Street and the world. Between 1980 and 1988 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alone, fifty-seven arbitrageurs were criminally prosecuted for insider trading. One of the bestknown cases involved risk arbitrageur Ivan Boesky, who allegedly realized a $9.075 million net profit through stock trades he made based on nonpublic information about three different mergers and takeovers. As part of the settlement with the SEC and the federal courts, Boesky was barred from any future securities trading.

Because risk arbitrage can involve significant blocks of shares worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars, this practice can have a large impact on both the market and the value of the company's stock. Professionals in the securities field generally agree that risk arbitrage based on inside information has a negative effect on the market, as well as on the reputation of arbitrageurs in general. Many of these commentators, however, are concerned that existing securities laws do not reach risk arbitrageurs who do not owe a fiduciary duty to the people who are harmed by the arbitrageur's use of nonpublic information. The Securities and Exchange Act specifies that a violation of rule 10(b)-5 requires the accused violator to have breached a fiduciary duty to the injured party.

Chiarella v. United States, 445 U.S. 222, 100 S. Ct. 1108, 63 L. Ed. 2d 348 (1980), is one of the leading cases on rule 10(b)-5 liability. Vincent F. Chiarella was employed at a financial printer and, as part of his duties, handled a series of documents that detailed an upcoming takeover bid; although the names were left blank or falsified, Chiarella was able to figure out the companies involved. Then, without disclosing that he had inside information, he bought stock in the companies that were targeted in the takeover; when the takeover was made public, he sold the shares and made a profit of approximately $30,000. Shortly thereafter, Chiarella was indicted on seventeen counts of violating rule 10(b)-5. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the conviction, however, on the grounds that Chiarella had not violated the rule because he was not a fiduciary and therefore did not have a duty to disclose.

Further readings

Hazen, Thomas Lee. 1989. "Volatility and Market Inefficiency: A Commentary on the Effects of Options, Futures, and Risk Arbitrage on the Stock Market." Securities Law Review 21.

Steckman, Laurence A. 1988. "Risk Arbitrage and Insider Trading—A Functional Analysis of the Fiduciary Concept Under Rule 10b-5." Touro Law Review 5 (October).

Cross-references

Mergers and Acquisitions.

risk arbitrage


Risk arbitrage

Traditionally, the simultaneous purchase of stock in a company being acquired and the sale of stock of the acquirer. Modern risk arbitrage focuses on capturing the spreads between the market value of an announced takeover target and the eventual price at which the acquirer will buy the target's shares.

Risk Arbitrage

In hedge funds, an investment strategy related to mergers and acquisitions involving the purchase and/or shorting of an acquired company's stock. In a cash merger, the stock of the acquired company often trades below the offer price until the deal is completed. A hedge fund may buy at the lower price and wait for the deal to be completed, at which point it makes a profit. In a stock-for-stock merger, the acquiring company (with more valuable stock) offers to exchange the acquired company's stock for its own at a certain ratio. A hedge fund may then short sell the acquiring company's stock while simultaneously buying stock in the acquired company. When the deal goes through, the acquired company's stock is converted and the new stock returned to the owner from which the hedge fund borrowed. In both these situations, the primary risk is the possibility that the deal may fail in the middle of the hedge fund's transactions. See also: Exchange ratio.

risk arbitrage

The simultaneous purchase and sale of assets that are potentially, but not necessarily, equivalent. For example, Firm A may make an offer to acquire Firm B by exchanging one share of its own stock for two shares of Firm B's stock. If the stock of Firm A is trading at $50 and the stock of Firm B is trading at $23, the risk arbitrager would buy shares in Firm B and sell short one-half this number of shares in Firm A. If the buyout offer is approved, the two stocks will exchange on a one-for-two basis and the arbitrage position will be profitable. The risk is that the buyout will be unsuccessful and the exchange of stock will not take place. Risk arbitrage is also used in situations involving reorganizations and tender offers. Also called equity arbitrage.

risk arbitrage


Related to risk arbitrage: Merger arbitrage
  • noun

Synonyms for risk arbitrage

noun arbitrage involving risk

Synonyms

  • takeover arbitrage

Related Words

  • arbitrage
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