Hixon tried to hide his trades, according to the complaint. In early 2013, after Evercore circulated a list it received from Finra of persons who bought Titanium stock before the takeover, Hixon said he didn’t recognize any names on it.
Later, when “confronted” by Evercore, Hixon said he didn’t identify Robinson because he knew her by her nickname, and not her legal first name, authorities said.
He said he didn’t identify his father because he lived in a different but nearby Georgia town and because Hixon is a common name in the South, they said.
“Suspicious trading in Robinson and Hixon Sr.’s account appears to have stopped after Hixon Jr. was confronted in 2013 about his knowledge of his father’s trading,” the SEC said in its complaint. “Text messages suggest that Robinson was upset to lose her source of child support, and even threatened to sue him.”
Westway Group
Hixon also bought shares in Westway Group Inc., a liquid storage firm, while serving as Evercore’s senior managing director in charge of Westway’s business, prosecutors said. He began buying in October 2011 after Westway’s largest holder offered to buy components of its business, and he sold when the deal became public, they said.
Hixon traded in his own firm as well, prosecutors said.
“Hixon learned confidential information that his employer, Evercore, would announce record earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012,” according to the complaint. He “used this information” to buy shares.
The SEC said it won an emergency request freezing about $1.2 million in Robinson’s brokerage account, most of which represents proceeds from Hixon’s trading.
The case is U.S. v. Frank Perkins Hixon Jr., 14-mag-0341, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.