Deutsche Bank under investigation over trades

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Deutsche Bank amid concerns the bank hid trading losses and inflated the value of mortgage securities traded in 2013. Deutsche Bank has been accused of hiding trading losses during the collapse of the market in an effort to bolster quarterly earnings results. Troy Dixon, who oversaw the trades conducted by the unit at the time, has since created the Hollis Park Partners hedge fund.

Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan. Thomson Reuters

Deutsche Bank is being probed by the SEC over mortgage securities it traded in 2013.

The regulator is investigating whether Deutsche Bank inflated the value of securities at the time and hid trading losses, according to Bloomberg's Matt Scully, who first reported the investigation.

"We are cooperating with this investigation, which is looking into previously recognized losses on certain positions," a Deutsche Bank representative said.

Troy Dixon, who left the bank in 2013 and has since launched a hedge fund, oversaw the positions at the time.

He was named one of Institutional Investor's "hedge fund rising stars" in 2015, and has won a handful of other awards as well.

As Bloomberg's Scully notes, delaying bond write-downs could have cushioned the firm's quarterly earnings results at a time when the fixed-income market was collapsing and trading businesses were suffering across Wall Street.

Dixon's hedge fund, Hollis Park Partners, declined to comment.

Separately, The Wall Street Journal last week reported that Deutsche Bank is launching an internal investigation into a potential conflict of interest at the firm.

It is investigating whether certain trades made by current and former employees starting in 2009 — which led to personal profits for those employees — were improper, according to the report.