US SEC charges 21 individuals in a decade-long insider trading scheme involving lawyers who allegedly leaked confidential M&A data through a global tipping network, netting millions in illicit profits

According to the complaint, a Los Angeles-based mergers and acquisitions lawyer orchestrated the scheme with a co-conspirator, tipping confidential deal information to a network of traders and intermediaries who either paid kickbacks or further disseminated the tips, enabling coordinated trading across multiple jurisdictions and generating millions in illicit profits. The scheme reportedly expanded through additional lawyers who also leaked sensitive deal data, creating a layered “tipping chain” that spread insider information internationally…