SEC Charges Traders with Fraud for Trading on Hacked Nonpublic Information

The SEC charged three Chinese traders with fraud for allegedly hacking "nonpublic market-moving information" from two prominent New York-based law firms. The SEC alleges that the traders used the information to purchase shares in at least three public companies before merger agreements had been publicly announced. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York brought criminal charges against the three traders.