Help from a SEC Insider Trading Lawyer
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged an individual with illegal insider trading in the securities of Mylan N.V., his former employer. The trader made profits and avoided losses in excess of $8 million in advance of four public announcements from October 2017 through July 2019.
In its enforcement action, the SEC alleges that the trader received material nonpublic information from a friend, an insider at Mylan, about Mylan’s yet-to-be released earnings, drug approvals by the FDA and a then pending merger with a Pfizer division. Armed with this valuable inside information, he then traded, profited and kicked-back a portion of the trading profits in cash in India to his insider source at Mylan.
Interestingly, in its litigation release, the SEC noted the trader’s efforts to avoid detection and to conceal his illegal insider trading scheme through the use of encrypted messaging apps and cash payments made abroad. The SEC made clear, however, that due to its capability to utilize “sophisticated data analysis to detect suspicious trading patterns and identify the traders behind them” such efforts proved futile.
While no doubt a bit of “peacocking” here by the SEC, its message is significant. The fact is that the SEC, aided by ever-more powerful and sophisticated technology, is becoming increasingly more adept at ferreting out insider trading through the identification of suspect trading patterns and, ultimately, determining who is behind the insider trades. The SEC has always viewed insider trading prosecutions as a key enforcement priority, but now its tools of detection are better than ever. Look for more SEC insider trading investigations to come — insider traders beware.
Contact SEC Insider Trading Lawyer David Chase
SEC insider trading lawyer David Chase, formerly a Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Enforcement Division where he conducted insider trading investigations, represents nationwide those under SEC insider trading investigation. For a confidential no-cost consultation call toll-free at: 800-760-0912, or email at david@davidchaselaw.com. Mr. Chase’s law firm is located on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
