Bawag Quits PIPEs Market

TheStreet.com, meanwhile, reported that all four hedge funds affiliated with Bawag were once customers of Refco, and Refco helped each resell some of the cut-rate shares they acquired in PIPEs deals. Two former Refco brokers who worked closely with the Bawag funds are being investigated by securities regulators on allegations they engaged in manipulative trading on behalf of another entity.

Just this week, the SEC brought its biggest PIPE enforcement case to date, fining a New York hedge fund manager $16 million for engaging in market manipulation in 23 PIPE deals.

More regulatory actions are on the way, including possible sanctions against Knight Capital(NITE Quote) and Friedman Billings Ramsey(FBR Quote), plus a number of big hedge funds.