SEC charges former Bank of America investment banker with insider trading
Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former senior Bank of America investment banker with insider trading on Friday, alleging he tipped off a longtime friend and former colleague about a pending merger, enabling that friend to earn $18.5 million in illegal profit.
Jason Satsky, formerly co-head of Americas power and renewable energy banking at Bank of America, allegedly told Gavin Wolfe in late 2021 about a potential acquisition of South Jersey Industries, an energy holding company the bank was advising at the time.
According to the SEC, Wolfe, who runs Evergreen Capital and has been Satsky's friend for more than two decades, purchased over 2.2 million shares of South Jersey Gas's parent company worth roughly $53 million. He realized a 36 percent gain after the company announced an $8.1 billion buyout on February 24, 2022.
The SEC alleges Satsky and Wolfe discussed the possible acquisition on multiple occasions, including at a nationally televised college basketball game between Duke and Kentucky at Madison Square Garden, which they attended with their wives using luxury box seats Satsky obtained through Bank of America.
The lawsuit seeks to recover Wolfe's alleged ill-gotten gains and to impose civil penalties and officer-and-director bans on both Satsky and Wolfe, among other remedies.
Jason Satsky, formerly co-head of Americas power and renewable energy banking at Bank of America, allegedly told Gavin Wolfe in late 2021 about a potential acquisition of South Jersey Industries, an energy holding company the bank was advising at the time.
According to the SEC, Wolfe, who runs Evergreen Capital and has been Satsky's friend for more than two decades, purchased over 2.2 million shares of South Jersey Gas's parent company worth roughly $53 million. He realized a 36 percent gain after the company announced an $8.1 billion buyout on February 24, 2022.
The SEC alleges Satsky and Wolfe discussed the possible acquisition on multiple occasions, including at a nationally televised college basketball game between Duke and Kentucky at Madison Square Garden, which they attended with their wives using luxury box seats Satsky obtained through Bank of America.
The lawsuit seeks to recover Wolfe's alleged ill-gotten gains and to impose civil penalties and officer-and-director bans on both Satsky and Wolfe, among other remedies.
JPMorgan Ended Banking Relationship with Polymarket over Regulatory Concerns
The Wall Street Journal
JPMorgan Chase ended its banking relationship with prediction market Polymarket last October due to regulatory concerns, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move adds to ongoing disputes in Washington over debanking and rising nationwide scrutiny of prediction markets' business practices. JPMorgan still maintains some ties to Polymarket and other prediction-market firms.
A Polymarket spokesman said the company maintains a close, active relationship with JPMorgan across multiple entities, adding that CEO Shayne Coplan has spoken at three of the bank's events over the past year.
A major investor in Polymarket connected the company to large banks, including Citigroup and Fifth Third, earlier this year, with initial meetings going well, according to a person familiar with the matter. The investor sought to give Polymarket access to larger banks beyond the smaller institutions it had previously worked with.
JPMorgan was already facing scrutiny from the Trump administration over alleged debanking, or improperly closing customer accounts for political reasons. The president has directed regulators to investigate whether banks engaged in politicized or unlawful debanking and to take appropriate action. Last month, JPMorgan was among several banks subpoenaed by the Justice Department on this matter.
States Seek $200 Billion From Meta Over Child Social Media Addiction Claims
The New York Times
Meta defended itself on Tuesday against claims that it addicted young people to social media, this time in a federal trial brought by states seeking roughly $200 billion in penalties along with changes to the company's platforms.
In opening statements, California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey accused the social media company, which owns Instagram and Facebook, of harming children through technology designed to be addictive, comparing it to cigarettes. The states argued Meta contributed to a national youth mental health crisis and misled users by marketing its apps as safe, in the first bellwether trial held in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland.
The suit alleges violations of federal child privacy laws and state consumer protection laws. Meta countered that it has implemented safeguards to protect young users and that its communications with consumers have been truthful.
The case is among thousands of personal injury and consumer protection lawsuits filed by states, school districts, and individuals against Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap, owner of Snapchat. These cases allege that social media platforms have harmed children through addictive product design, drawing partly on the legal strategy used against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.
