NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- U.S. criminal and regulatory authorities Thursday filed insider-trading charges against 13 people alleged to have netted $15 million in illegal profits.
Those charged include a former Morgan Stanley compliance officer and her husband, an institutional client manager in the equity-research department at UBS AG's securities unit, former registered representatives in the securities businesses of Bear Stearns Cos. and Bank of America Corp. and several hedge-fund employees.
The charges include conspiracy, securities fraud, commercial bribery and making false statements, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint said.
One alleged scheme involved selling information about upcoming analyst upgrades and downgrades, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Michael Garcia said. The other involved selling advance information about mergers and acquisitions.
Some of the mergers included Abode Systems Inc.'s 2005 planned acquisition of Macromedia Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s 2005 acquisition of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. and Penn National Gaming Inc.'s 2004 plan to acquire Argosy Gaming Co.
Spokesmen for all the investment banks involved said they were cooperating with federal investigators.
