Rene Walter Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was a Chinese-born Australian entrepreneur, investor, investment adviser, and stockbroker. He was convicted of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

in 2003 and sentenced to nine months of

periodic detention Periodic detention or weekend detention is a type of custodial sentence under which the offender is held in prison between Friday and Sunday evenings each week, but is at liberty at other times. Promoted by prison reformers as an alternative to ...

Early life

Rene Walter Rivkin was born 6 June 1944 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

in what was then Japanese-occupied China, to

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish parents. His father, Walter, was a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

n-born

trader Trader may refer to: * Merchant, retailer or one who attempts to generally buy wholesale and sell later at a profit * The owner of a trading post, where manufactured goods were exchanged with native peoples for furs and hides. * Trader (finance), ...

who had fled to China in the 1920s to escape the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s. The elder Rivkin had also once been a champion boxer in Shanghai. The family emigrated to Australia in 1951. Rivkin attended the selective

Sydney Boys High School , motto_translation = With Truth and Courage , established = , location = Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , p ...

in Moore Park. In accordance with his father's wishes, he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. He went on to become the youngest-ever member of the Sydney Stock Exchange.

Career

Rivkin was a well-known

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks ...

and entrepreneur, whose career spanned over 30 years. In December 1985, he was voted ''

Business Review Weekly ''BRW'' (formerly ''Business Review Weekly'') was an Australian business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group. The magazine was headquartered in Melbourne. It regularly compiled lists which rank corporations and individuals according to ...

'' magazine's Stockbroker of the Year. Later, he gained recognition with his publication of the ''Rivkin Report'', in which he would advise what stocks to buy and sell, and provide market analysis. He became famous in the Australian media for his entrepreneurial flair and wealth. He was associated with leading political, media and business figures in Australia from 1982 to 1999 and became a household name. Rivkin sold his share of stockbroking firm Rivkin James Capel after an operation to remove a tumour and the 1987 stockmarket collapse. He was the chairman and chief investor in the printing plant that was destroyed in the Offset Alpine fire on 24 December 1993. This resulted in an insurance payout of $53 million. Rivkin owned and part-owned many businesses, including a half share of John Singleton Advertising between 1986 and 1991 with his friend

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...

. He subsequently founded another stockbroking firm.

Conviction for insider trading

In April 2003, following a long-running investigation by the

Australian Securities and Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

(ASIC), Rivkin was found guilty of

, having purchased

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the List of airlines by foundation date, world's third-oldest airline sti ...

shares after being made aware of information in relation to an impending merger of Qantas and

Impulse Airlines Impulse Airlines was an independent airline in Australia which operated regional and low-cost airline, low-cost trunk services between 1992 and 2004. It was acquired by Qantas in 2001 to formed the basis of Qantas' new regional airline QantasL ...

. He was charged with using confidential and market-sensitive information, having purchased – on behalf of Rivkin Investments – 50,000 Qantas shares on 24 April 2001, just hours after speaking to the executive chairman of Impulse, Gerry McGowan. The trade resulted in a profit of $2,664.94. Rivkin was convicted and sentenced to nine months' periodic detention on weekends. His sentence was delayed so he could undergo urgent surgery for a

meningioma Meningioma, also known as meningeal tumor, is typically a slow-growing tumor that forms from the meninges, the membranous layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms depend on the location and occur as a result of the tumor pressing ...

. His period of custody was punctuated with time served at Long Bay Psychiatric Hospital. After serving two days of his sentence at Sydney's

Silverwater Correctional Complex The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operat ...

, Rivkin collapsed and was hospitalised.

Death

Banned for life from having a stockbroking licence following the serving of his sentence, Rivkin retired from business life. During this time, he suffered from several conditions. Since 1986, Rivkin received treatment for benign

brain tumours A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

, a gangrenous

gall bladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, althoug ...

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and e ...

and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. During interviews Rivkin mentioned that he had contemplated suicide. In early September 2004 he attempted suicide. He later moved from his Point Piper home to the Darling Point home of his elderly mother, where he took his own life on 1 May 2005. His funeral was widely attended by many notable people from Sydney's business community at

Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Eastern Suburbs Crematorium and Botany General Cemetery (aka Botany Cemetery), is a cemetery and crematorium on Bunnerong Road in Matraville, New South Wales, in the eastern suburbs district of Sydney, Australia. ...

where his body was cremated on 6 May 2005. He was survived by his wife and five children.

Posthumous investigation

Following Rivkin's death, a global investigation was launched to ascertain the location of funds associated with the deceased businessman's estate. The high-profile investigation revealed Rivkin had been trading in secret through complex offshore dealings, despite being banned, and led to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) claiming A$18 million in unpaid taxes and penalties. This forced the executors of the estate to declare it bankrupt, and a lengthy international effort to recover the proceeds of Rivkin's illegal trading ensued. As of 16 April 2013, the ATO ceased the provision of legal funds for court cases in Switzerland, where a Swiss bank refused to disclose the details of Rivkin's financial records (Swiss authorities also refused to take action against the bank). An amount of $A11 million that was held in Swiss bank accounts remains outstanding upon the closure of the investigation in April 2013.

References

External links

The Rivkin Website

Rivkin sentenced for insider trading

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivkin, Rene 1944 births 2005 deaths 2001 crimes in Australia Australian fraudsters Australian Jews Australian people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Sydney Chinese emigrants to Australia Chinese Jews Chinese people of Russian-Jewish descent People convicted of insider trading Businesspeople from Shanghai People with bipolar disorder Suicides in New South Wales Australian stockbrokers People educated at Sydney Boys High School Sydney Law School alumni Burials at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park