Virtu’s Viola Must Face Claims He Manipulated Stock Buybacks

A Delaware judge advanced claims Tuesday that Virtu Financial Inc. and its founder, Vinnie Viola, engineered a $1.1 billion stock buyback scheme that steered value to himself and other insiders.

“It’s reasonably conceivable there’s a problem here,” Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster said in his bench ruling.

A pension fund alleges Viola and other Virtu leaders paid for the buybacks with funds belonging to public investors in a transaction enabled by the company’s complex corporate structure. The complaint also targets other current and former members of the financial services giant’s C-suite and board, including Viola’s son Michael.

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