US authorities will announce string of insider dealing cases
Federal authorities are closing in on a series of high profile targets as part of a drive to purge insider trading from Wall Street.
They are understood to be on the verge of announcing cases against hedge fund traders, consultants and Wall Street bankers within weeks, according to lawyers working on the cases.
Prosecutors and securities regulators are likely to file a number of cases targeting the $1.7 trillion hedge fund industry rather than a single spectacular case, said the lawyers.
They are likely to reveal suspicions of multiple, highly organised insider trading rings suspected of reaping tens of millions of dollars for their members over a period of years.
The probe is said to include up to three dozen companies.
The new round of prosecutions could start before Christmas, lawyers said, adding that they could rival last year’s arrest of Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam and nearly two-dozen others in one of the largest insider trading cases ever brought.
Authorities are still deciding whether to pursue cases against several individuals who were implicated but never charged in the Galleon case and another case involving a former UBS investment banker.