SEC Freezes Assets in Swiss-Based Account Used in Suspected Insider Trading ahead of Heinz Acquisition

The SEC obtained an emergency court order to freeze assets in a Switzerland-based trading account that was used to reap more than $1.7 million from trading in advance of last week's public announcement about the acquisition of H.J. Heinz Company. The SEC alleges that the unknown traders were in possession of material nonpublic information about the impending acquisition when they purchased out-of-the-money Heinz call options the day before the announcement.

See: SEC Complaint.
See also: SEC Press Release.