Insider Trading Investigations
Law & Forensics investigates suspected insider trading and market manipulation, examining trading records, communications, and access controls to determine whether individuals traded on material nonpublic information or engaged in manipulative practices.
Insider Trading Investigations capabilities
Trading and Communications Analysis
We examine trading records, email and calendar data, and communications between traders and information sources, analyzing the timing relationships between information receipt and trading execution to identify suspicious patterns and assess alternative explanations.
Market Manipulation Investigations
Our investigators have directed inquiries into insider trading by corporate insiders and investigated market manipulation schemes involving publicly traded companies, including matters resulting in substantial investor losses.
Financial Statement and Filing Review
We analyze financial statements and SEC filings to identify fraudulent activities, drawing on deep experience with securities, market operations, clearance and settlement procedures, and the technical aspects of trading systems.
Regulatory Support and Expert Testimony
We provide detailed investigation reports, support settlement negotiations and voluntary disclosures with regulators, and serve as expert witnesses in insider trading litigation.
Prevention and Surveillance Program Design
We assist securities firms in implementing information barriers, surveillance protocols, and policies designed to prevent unauthorized trading on material nonpublic information.
Insider Trading Investigations — matters we are engaged for
Timing looks suspicious and may be coincidence
A trade precedes an announcement. Establishing access to the information, and the absence of an innocent explanation, is a different exercise from establishing the trade itself.
Information moved through an unmonitored channel
The wall held on email and not on a personal messaging app. Identifying the channel actually used is usually the whole investigation.
Order patterns suggest manipulation
Layering, spoofing and marking the close look like ordinary activity in isolation. The pattern only appears at scale, across time, correlated with cancellations.
A regulator's theory has to be tested before it is accepted
Enforcement staff work from a hypothesis built on partial data. Reconstructing the same period independently establishes whether the data supports the theory.
Insider Trading Investigations — frequently asked questions
What do your insider trading investigations examine?
We examine trading records, communications between traders and information sources, and access controls to determine whether individuals traded on material nonpublic information or engaged in manipulative trading practices, analyzing the timing between information receipt and trading execution.
Can you support voluntary disclosures and regulatory cooperation?
Yes. We produce detailed investigation reports that can support voluntary disclosure to regulators and cooperation with SEC enforcement inquiries, and we support settlement negotiations with regulators.
Do you serve as expert witnesses?
Yes. Our team serves as expert witnesses in insider trading litigation, drawing on significant experience with securities, market operations, trading systems, clearance and settlement, and market surveillance mechanisms.
Do you help firms prevent insider trading before it occurs?
Yes. We assist securities firms in implementing information barriers, surveillance protocols, and policies designed to prevent unauthorized trading on material nonpublic information.
Investigations experts who testify to this work
Full expert panel →
Jeremy Desor
Senior Consultant
Complex Financial Crime · Securities Fraud Investigation · Money Laundering & Asset Tracing
George Pierce
Expert Consultant
Regulatory Compliance · Internal Investigations
Our experts serve as court-appointed special masters, forensic neutrals, and arbitrators — 40 appointments are listed by matter and citation.
Insider Trading Investigations case results
Energy / Oil & Gas Developer
Forensic FCPA Investigation for an International Energy Developer
Media & Entertainment
Exposing a Royalty-Pipeline Licensing Fraud for a Global Media Company
National Retail / E-Commerce
Trade-Secret Exfiltration Forensics Behind a National Retailer's Emergency Injunction