May 11, 2017

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Walter C. Little a former partner at an international law firm and his neighbor Andrew M. Berke with making more than $1 million in illicit profits by insider trading around corporate announcements. The SEC alleges that Little accessed confidential documents on his law firm’s internal computer network related to at least 11 impending announcements involving law firm clients, none of which he personally advised or billed for services.  Little then allegedly traded in advance of each announcement and often tipped Berke with material nonpublic information so he could similarly trade in company stocks before the announcements were made publicly.  According to the SEC’s complaint, the insider trading occurred from February 2015 to February 2016. “As alleged in our complaint, Little used highly-confidential information about his law firm’s clients to make more than $1 million for himself and his neighbor through illegal insider trading and tipping,” said Stephanie Avakian, Acting Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Little and Berke. SEC

Tagged in: Insider Trading, Securities Fraud,