Hazem Khalid al-Braikan, a Kuwaiti businessman who was being sued by the US securities regulators in connection with allegations of market manipulation, was found dead on Sunday in an apparent suicide.

Mr Braikan, the chief executive of Al Raya Investment Company, was one of several Kuwaiti defendants named in a civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. He was accused of allegedly profiting from a hoax takeover offer for Harman International, the S&P 500 audio systems group.