On August 31, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to formalize and accelerate the exchange of nonpublic information between the two agencies. While the announced goal is broad—“ensuring the integrity of the financial markets and protecting public health”—the practical...Read More

In the high-stakes arena of insider trading enforcement, a common misconception exists among defendants: “If I didn’t sell the shares or exercise the option contracts, I didn’t actually make a profit—meaning there is no realized gain and thus nothing for the government to take back.” However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) flatly rejects...Read More

David R. Chase, Esq., principal of the Law Firm of David R. Chase, P.A., was recently quoted in a feature article published by Missouri Lawyers Media titled “Prediction Markets Open Insider Trading Minefield for Corporate Counsel.” The article examines the rapid growth of prediction markets, including platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, and the increasingly...Read More

Few events in life trigger immediate panic like receiving a SEC subpoena or getting an unannounced call from the staff of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit asking about a particular stock trade you made, whether recently or years ago. These investigations typically originate with an invisible trigger: an automated algorithm at FINRA or the SEC...Read More

For decades, insider trading investigations relied heavily on whistleblowers, referrals from regulatory organizations, and obvious patterns of suspicious, red-flag activity.  Today, the landscape has radically changed. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now utilizes advanced market surveillance technology to identify highly suspicious trading patterns across millions of transactions — including a sophisticated analytical platform known...Read More

By David R. Chase, Former SEC Enforcement Attorney and Now SEC Insider Trading Defense Lawyer For many executives, traders, investment advisers, and finance professionals, the first sign of trouble arrives unexpectedly: a subpoena, a call from compliance, a request for documents, or an out-of-the blue contact from SEC enforcement staff itself. By that point, the...Read More

Introduction There are few legal situations that create more stress and uncertainty for investors, corporate insiders, pharma employees, investment bankers, or securities professionals than learning that securities regulators are investigating you for insider trading.  Federal regulators, including the SEC and DOJ, aggressively pursue insider trading cases, and that historical trend appears to be continuing without...Read More

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relies heavily on circumstantial evidence when building an insider trading case. Defending against an SEC insider trading investigation requires analyzing the exact evidentiary factors the SEC uses to establish liability, identifying weaknesses in the Division of Enforcement’s calculus, and establishing an alternative, credible explanation for the trades before formal...Read More

We’re proud to share that David R. Chase was quoted in a recent CBC article examining the growing scrutiny around prediction markets and their role in speculative trading on geopolitical events. In the article, David Chase offered expert insight into how traditional securities law principles—especially around insider trading and fraud—might apply in these emerging platforms as...Read More

Insider trading in the securities markets has been a constant, notwithstanding the SEC’s years long efforts to deter it through investigations and prosecutions. Now, with the proliferation of the prediction markets, including Polymarket and Kalshi, there are increasing concerns that illegal insider trading may be taking place on such platforms potentially threatening their integrity and...Read More