A small New York hedge fund has secretly managed $7 billion for a Russian oligarch for over a decade, the SEC says

• The SEC this week charged a small New York hedge fund with acting as an unregistered investment advisor.
• Concord Management earned tens of millions of dollars advising a Russian tycoon, the SEC said.

A small, little-known New York hedge fund and its owner made tens of millions of dollars managing money for an unnamed Russian tycoon who has political clout in Moscow, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

On Tuesday, the US financial watchdog charged Concord Management, based in Westchester County, and its owner, Michael Matlin, with not registering with authorities that they were investing money on behalf of "a wealthy former Russian official widely regarded as having political connections to the Russian Federation."

The regulator added that since 1999, Concord had made over $80 million managing the client's assets, which, as of January 2022, were worth $7.2 billion.

The SEC didn't name the Russian official in question. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Concord had managed money for the oligarch Roman Abramovich, citing a person familiar with the matter.

"According to the complaint, in March 2022, the United Kingdom and the European Union designated Matlin and Concord's client a sanctioned individual and the client's assets were subsequently frozen. The SEC's complaint alleges that, a month prior, in February 2022, Concord and Matlin assisted the client in his attempts to redeem investments and/or sell his securities portfolio," the SEC said in a press statement.

Abramovich was the governor of the Chukotka region in eastern Russia between 2000 and 2008 and is regarded as having a strong relationship with the country's president, Vladimir Putin.

He is best known in the West for owning the English soccer team Chelsea FC between 2003 and 2022 before the UK government froze his assets and made him sell the club after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine.

"While we are disappointed with the SEC's decision to pursue this non-intent-based claim, we are confident that a full and fair review of the applicable law and relevant facts will underscore that Concord Management and Michael Matlin complied with all regulatory and legal requirements," a spokesperson for Concord and Matlin said.