Rene Walter Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was an 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.

Early life

Rene Walter Rivkin was born 6 June 1944 in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in what was then

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese-occupied

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, to Russian-

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish parents. His father, Walter, was a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

n-born trader who had fled to China in the 1920s to escape the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

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 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, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

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

Career

Rivkin was a well-known

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

and entrepreneur, whose career spanned over 30 years. In December 1985, he was voted '' Business Review Weekly'' 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 A market analysis studies the attractiveness and the dynamics of a special market within a special industry. It is part of the industry analysis and thus in turn of the global environmental analysis. Through all of these analyses the strengths, ...

. 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. He was appointed a member of the special committee to select works of art for the Bicentenary

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...

redevelopment chaired by

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman o ...

with the State Gallery director Edmund Capon, journalist Lenore Nicklin, critic and art collector Sandra McGrath, and Bob Pentecost, general manager of the Darling Harbour Authority. Rivkin sold his share of stockbroking firm Rivkin James Capel after an operation to remove a tumour, and amidst the 1987 stockmarket collapse.Main, Andrew. ''Rivkin Unauthorised''. 2005 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. He subsequently founded another stockbroking firm.

Conviction for insider trading

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

Australian Securities & 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 ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

shares after being made aware of information in relation to an impending merger of Qantas and Impulse Airlines. 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. 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, 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 had been receiving treatment for benign brain tumours, a gangrenous gall bladder,

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 enl ...

and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. 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 killed himself on 1 May 2005. His funeral was held at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park 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 The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Taxation in Australia, Australian federal taxation ...

(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 Australian fraudsters Australian Jews Australian people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Sydney People convicted of insider trading 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