BP chief Tony Hayward sold shares weeks before oil spill

[babsbunny]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7804922/BP-chief-Tony-Hayward-sold-shares-weeks-before-oil-spill.html

The chief executive of BP sold £1.4 million of his shares in the fuel giant weeks before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill caused its value to collapse.

By Jon Swaine and Robert Winnett
Published: 12:10AM BST 05 Jun 2010

Tony Hayward cashed in about a third of his holding in the company one month before a well on the Deepwater Horizon rig burst, causing an environmental disaster.

Mr Hayward, whose pay package is £4 million a year, then paid off the mortgage on his family’s mansion in Kent, which is estimated to be valued at more than £1.2 million.

[JuniperLea]

1. Oh SNAP!!

WTF???

[ellaydubya]

2. Very interesting........

And how timely- lucky or forewarned?

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. This could have been scheduled.

The timing is quite unfortunate, but scheduling selloffs isn't uncommon - especially when there is a documented purpose for the action (paying off a mortgage would count).

I have no bias for this man or his company - just explaining how the system works for "insiders" (directors, board members, c-level execs, ppl with 10%+ of shares, etc...) who have to report their buys and sells by law. Most are done on a preplanned schedule as opposed to 'on a whim'.

[aquart]

5. I think you're probably right.

Looked interesting for a minute, though.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. Should have mentioned, most 'insider' trades are scheduled weeks/months in advance.

So as to dissuade emotional/biased trading or impropriety.

People classified as "insiders" due to their access to strategic direction and non-public reports (ie, not the mail room guy or accounting assistant) HAVE to report their trading activity in the company stock in order to be traded/listed as SEC exchange traded stocks in their quarterly 10Q filing.

[Brickbat]

14. Yup. CEOs and other officers of multinational multibillion-dollar companies hold a lot of company

stock as part of their compensation, and they often sell things off fairly regularly. He has plenty to be blamed for, but a sale with odd timing isn't one of them.

[Ruby the Liberal]

20. It isn't a perfect system by any means. Angelo Mozillo began scheduled selling of MASSIVE amounts of

Countrywide just prior to the subprime collapse, but unlike Deepwater Horizon - many saw that market collapse coming (and many of his scheduled sells were clawed-back)

[Brickbat]

22. Indeed.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. The timing is unfortunate, except for the 423,000 Pounds

he got by selling at that time. That seems rather fortunate to me.

[Ruby the Liberal]

23. Look at the charts. Go back 5 years.

This was a median price to cash out at.

I am not a BP apologist by any definition, but as there are outrages out there, this isn't one of them.

Anyone who knows what quarterly 10Q filings are, or follows the markets will see through this argument.

Recommend we keep to the outrage at hand (the disaster in the gulf) and not make up non-issues out of whole cloth.

Good weekend to you: :toast:

[Bluenorthwest]

28. This is not an 'outrage' it is a news story

A reporting of fact from the business section of the Telegraph. I am not sure what argument you think the article makes, that it could be seen through. It just states the facts. It is not an opinion piece, and it does not ascribe any form wrong doing to the sale.
He sold just before it tanked. This is reported in the papers. What's to see through? The conclusion being drawn is in your mind, not in the words of the article. The article reports some facts, and nothing more.

[Ruby the Liberal]

30. Oh please.

Read up on 10Q filings and get back to me.

"News" = sensationalism.

This is a non-story.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. 'xactly

people will want to see a tinfoil hat moment, but it is a hell of a coincidence, that I admit.

[lovuian]

4. like I said BP did a terrorist attack on Americans

this isn't Osama this is Britain that did this
to our country

Where is the British government???

[aquart]

6. Britain runs BP?

[Angry Dragon]

9. No

Years ago Britain owned bp but sold out over a course of years

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. BP is a transnational corp headquartered in the UK

Their shareholders are about 40% UK, 40% US and 20% other-international.

The UK government has no liability in this.

[Hempathy]

18. "terrorist attack" ??? PUH-LEASE...

:eyes:

So- you honestly think that BP destroyed and sank the Deepwater Horizon on purpose?

in order to be a "terrorist attack" it would have to be completely intentional- industrial accidents are NOT "terrorist attacks".

[Frustratedlady]

7. Did Cheney have stock? Any way to find out? nt

[Statistical]

10. No way to find out (stock ownership details are private) unless

he is either
a) owns 10% of outstanding stock
b) is on board of directors or another executive.

People in those two categories have to reports ownership information to SEC (which then makes it public).

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. He is CEO - his trades have to be filed on the 10Q

[Statistical]

26. I don't believe he has been a CEO since 2000. n/t

[Ruby the Liberal]

29. I read earlier today that he is a renowned geologist.

No mention of management experience was noted.

Back in the '60s, "those that could" ran the ranks (engineers and the like). In today's atmosphere, you almost need a politician/PR guy at the helm.

Quite the change in focus, but in the internet age, unfortunately necessary.

[Ruby the Liberal]

32. Whoops - missed the thread of conversation.

You were responding to a Cheney question and I was responding about Heyward's filing responsibility.

My apologies for derailing.

[glinda]

8. how far can this thread K & R?

[Ruby the Liberal]

17. I K&U. This is a non-story

See above posts about company 'insiders' (as classified by the SEC) and reporting/scheduling regulations.

People classified as "insiders" don't have the option of open-market trading like common employees do. They have to schedule said trades well in advance with a stated buy (sell) date.

[Bluenorthwest]

24. the non story is from the Telegraph, a major paper

And they ran it. Nowhere in the article does it mention when the sale was scheduled. "Well in advance." What does that mean? I assume there is an actual answer to that, and that you don't know it either. But the business section of the Telegraph did not think this is non story, nor did BP say this was a scheduled sale, and if it was when that scheduling happened. One would think they would be eager to share that information. Yet they did not.
You posts are filled with words like 'most' and 'usually' and 'well in advance'. Not the specific sort of language that might reflect anything but assumptions on your part.
The point, you see, is not about what 'usually' happens, or what happens 'most of the time'. It is all about what happened in this particular instance, and no facts are offered by BP thus far. Usually is not what facts are about.
Perhaps you should telegraph the Telegraph, and tell them this is a non story. Attach your CV for standing.

[Ruby the Liberal]

27. "If it bleeds, it leads"

I am registered with FINRA and the SEC.

If a company is publically traded in the USA (on an exchange), they have to file a quarterly "10Q" filing documenting their financials, their outlook, their direction and trading activity by "insiders" (documented above - directors, board members, c-level execs and any shareholder with 10%+ ownership) - ie anyone with "senior level, non-public, inside information" about the company or its direction.

While this is an interesting story, given the timing, it is non-information.

Don't believe me? Ask the regulators at finra.com

If BP's c-level execs went around these scheduled and fliing regs, you wouldn't be able to buy BP stock in the US as they would be kicked off the exchanges.

Before running with "but the internet/newspaper said", research the regs.

[Bluenorthwest]

31. The story just reports the simple facts. Nothing to get freaked

out about and start strutting your creds. The fact that you are in a lather that this was reported in an absolutely factual way is interesting. This was not, by far the lead story in the Telegraph about BP. That would be the announced trimming of dividends and the impact on pension funds in the UK. That bleeds. There are many stories about Hayward right now. This one just reports a fact, my friend. It is a minor story. Hayward, nor BP offered up any specifics on the deal. That means that you do not know the facts, and that I do not know the facts. We both do know, however, that "insiders" do not always do what the law requires. I have known personally people who went from seats on the exchange to disgrace and or prison. Because they were insiders, and they did not trade according to the rules. So spare me your own personal conclusions about what this fact means, as the Telegraph spared me theirs.
If he did it all by the book, with a long stated sell date, that is not important information. It is still information. If he did not do it all correctly, then it is perhaps more important.
This is a true story that draws no conclusion from the facts at all. It is information. The importance of that information is not knowable without the rest of the information, which you nor I have, in this specific case. I draw no conclusion. You want to. But it is too soon to do so.

[Ruby the Liberal]

34. Dear friend, I am in no way in a lather - just trying to hep with regulations/system facts

for those who seem gobsmacked by this "revelation"

As far as my credentials, you are the one who recommended I "send my CV" along with my issues to the paper promoting this. Rather than a CV, I thought I would note my certifications in order to solidify the basis of my comments. I have no argument with the Telegraph - they need to sell papers. My role in this discussion is solely to present the regulatory facts for those who read the OP and caught their breath thinking that this disaster was predetermined and/or on purpose.

Make sense?

[Hempathy]

12. So what...?

People(even CEO's) buy and sell shares of stock all the time.

What's your point?

[Brickbat]

15. I'll fess up to an unrec, because sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[glitch]

16. Isn't that about the same time they knew of the casing failure? nt

[hayu_lol]

33. That is really interesting timing...

there was a thread here yesterday that said that Goldman Sachs sold about 40% of their BP holdings three weeks before the spill.

Wonder who sold off first?

[glitch]

36. These are questions I too would like to see answered. Perhaps those answers will come up in the

"investigation".

[depakid]

21. Now THAT was prescient- whereas Obama coopted Republican drilling policies

making one of the most ill fated political decisions in modern US history, Hayward makes out with the big bucks.

Truly the stuff of classical tragedy.

[Zoeisright]

37. Take all of his money and property and drop him into the Gulf.

That is what that prick deserves.