DOJ and SEC Charge Corporate Lawyers, Dozens of Others, With Massive Insider Trading Scheme

Thirty Individuals Charged in Global Insider Trading Scheme Netting Tens of Millions in Illicit Profits

Charges were unsealed today against 30 defendants in connection with a large-scale, decade-long insider trading scheme that netted tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits. The defendants, who include corporate attorneys and other financial professionals, are alleged to have stolen and used confidential information on nearly 30 merger and acquisition deals from several of the nation’s premier law firms, including a firm headquartered in Massachusetts.

Nineteen defendants were arrested today and will make appearances in federal court in Los Angeles, Calif., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and New York, among other locations. Two defendants located in Russia and Israel are considered fugitives.
The first indictment charges the following 16 defendants with two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, two counts of securities fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy. […]

That indictment also charges Nicolo Nourafchan with two counts of obstruction of justice, and Mark Fensterszaub, Moradi and Suskind with making false statements to law enforcement.

A second indictment charges five defendants with two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, two counts of securities fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy….

Sen. Gillibrand: No crypto bill without ethics provision amid President Trump’s ties through memecoins, World Liberty

There will be no deal without an ethics provision in sweeping cryptocurrency market structure legislation, warned Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the bill’s most prominent advocates.

Many Senate Democrats have raised concerns over President Donald Trump and his family’s crypto connections. Both Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, launched memecoins ahead of the inauguration, and his family has led the DeFi and stablecoin project World Liberty Financial.

Bloomberg has estimated that Trump has raked in at least $1.4 billion from his crypto ventures. Trump’s crypto interests have also faced scrutiny over potential national security and foreign influence risks following an investment tied to the United Arab Emirates.

“It is essential — and I want everyone in this room to take this to heart — there will be no one voting for this bill if we don’t have an ethics provision,” Gillibrand said on Wednesday at the Consensus Miami conference. “The truth is that we cannot allow members of Congress, senior administration officials, presidents, or vice presidents to get rich off these industries because of their insider status.”

Insider Trading Anxiety Muddles SEC’s Semiannual Reporting Push

Insider trading concerns might deter companies from abandoning their current quarterly financial reporting schedule, the SEC cautioned in its newly proposed rule that would let issuers opt to disclose earnings and other events only twice a year.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said the agency’s May 5 plan would give companies flexibility to choose their own reporting schedule. But the proposal’s text also warned less frequent disclosures could fuel investor worries about illegal activity, raise questions about when and how long to pause company leadership stock trades, and prompt companies to compensate corporate insiders for restricting the time they can buy and sell shares.

Corporate anxiety over insider trading activity is one reason the SEC said it expects only 20% of companies to adopt a semiannual schedule if the proposed rule goes through. But impact depends largely on whether companies that opt into twice-per-year reporting continue to hold quarterly earnings calls and compile quarterly information internally, attorneys said.

If companies move to a semiannual schedule but stick with typical earnings releases, insider trading policy compliance wouldn’t be a concern, said Matthew Franker, partner at Covington & Burling LLP.

“If, however, they go to pure semiannual reporting where they’re only reporting every six months—so no quarterly earnings release—it raises a lot of questions,” he said.

Wall Street giant Apollo aims to open ‘second headquarters’ outside NYC — in latest fallout from Mamdani’s war on the wealthy

Yet another major Wall Street firm is poised to expand outside New York City – the latest blow to the Big Apple’s tax coffers thanks to Mayor Zohran Mandani’s war on wealthy residents and businesses, The Post has learned.

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management, headquartered in Manhattan, has decided to open a new business hub — internally dubbed its “second headquarters” — in either Florida or Texas with an official decision likely to be made public in the coming weeks, people close to the matter say.

The new outpost could eventually become home to as many as 1,000 employees over time – in line with Apollo’s current headcount in New York, the sources said. The buyout firm currently employs more than 6,000 worldwide.

Reid Hoffman says NFTs may make a comeback as AI agents strain online identity

NFTs are due for a “rebirth” as AI agents force the internet to solve new identity and trust problems, Reid Hoffman told CoinDesk’s Consensus Miami conference on Wednesday.

The Greylock partner and LinkedIn co-founder said agents transacting with other agents will require trustworthy digital identity systems that resemble what NFTs originally tried to solve. Hoffman said he began revisiting NFTs as he considered a future in which AI agents outnumber humans online.”When you begin to think we’re going to have more agents than people, what does the identity layer look like? What is the notion of, hey, when your agent’s talking to my agent, and we book this talk here, is it a trustable transaction?” Hoffman said. “And that got me back into thinking about NFTs.”