Kuwaiti fund manager KIPCO Asset Management Company (Kamco) and United Gulf Bank (UGB) said they made no gain from trades in shares of Harman International Industries and Textron probed by US regulators.

'The transactions mentioned in the US Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) litigation release were undertaken by Kamco under specific instructions of its client in normal course of business,' Kamco was quoted as saying in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

'Kamco had or has no proprietary investment or any interest in the related shares and thus has not benefited and has not gained from the reported trades,' it said, adding that it had complied with regulations.

Bahrain-based investment bank UGB said in a similar statement that it made no investment or gains, adding, 'UGB only provided custody and transaction execution services for those trades in its normal course of business.'

On Thursday (July 23), the SEC sued Kuwaiti financier Hazem Khalid Al Braikan and entities linked to him including Kamco, saying they earned millions from trades in Harman and Textron after 'fraudulent' takeover reports sent shares of the two US firms soaring. – TradeArabia News Service