SEC Fines, Bans Investment Advisor For Issuing False Acquisition Offer For Barnes & Noble

A New York-based investment advisor has been fined $275,000 for its involvement in a scheme to profit from the manipulation of Barnes & Noble stock. G Asset Management LLC, a firm run by Michael A. Glickstein, issued a press release on February 21, 2014 with a fake offer to buy a majority stake in the book store that resulted in an illicit $168,000 profit, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged. Immediately after the false offer, Barnes & Noble's stock rose 11%, to $18.99 a share from $17.05, and forcing the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading. G Asset had recently acquired thousands of Barnes & Noble shares and short-term call options that it sold after the stock surged. Glickstein has a history of making unsolicited proposals to Barnes & Noble and his firm lacked the financial means to make good on the latest offer to buy a majority stake in the company, according to the SEC. Glickstein did not admit or deny the findings in the SEC's complaint, but he was barred from the securities industry for a minimum of five years.