Last week saw two significant developments for insider trading law stemming from the Second Circuit’s important decision in U.S. v. Newman, 773 F.3d 438 (2d Cir. 2014). First, the government was dealt a significant loss when, on Jan. 22, 2015, U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. vacated four insider trading defendants’ guilty pleas in the wake of Newman and rejected the government’s argument that the Newman decision does not apply to cases prosecuted under the so-called “misappropriation” theory of insider trading liability. Second, the next day, the government filed a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in Newman, seeking reversal of the Second Circuit’s earlier decision vacating the convictions of defendants Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson and dismissing their indictments with prejudice. Earlier this week, the SEC indicated its support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s position by filing a motion seeking to submit an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in support of the petition for rehearing in Newman.
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