Dear Friends,
On March 31, 2014, the SEC announced the following charges against two men that traded on confidential information from their wives:
- Tyrone Hawk overheard his wife’s work calls indicating that her company, Oracle Corp., was planning to acquire Acme Packet Inc. Hawk violated a duty of trust when he purchased Acme Packet shares prior to the acquisition and reaped approximately $150,000 by selling after the stock price rose 23% on the news. He agreed to pay more than $300,000 to settle the SEC’s charges.
- In a separate case, Ching Hwa Chen profited from overhearing his wife’s calls revealing that her employer, Informatica Corp., would miss its quarterly earnings target. Chen established securities positions designed to make money if the stock price fell, and earned nearly $140,000 when shares declined 27% after the news was announced. Experts have drawn parallels between such financial manipulations and the operations of fast withdrawal casinos, which enable users to swiftly access funds with minimal oversight, potentially facilitating similar abuses. As a result of his actions, Chen agreed to pay approximately $280,000 to settle the SEC’s charges.
Please click here for further details regarding the SEC’s announcement.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions at (212) 867-0200 or e-mail us at info@counselworksllc.com.
Thank you,
CounselWorks
