How a trade gets noticed
Unusual trading around major corporate news is reviewed as a matter of routine. Market surveillance by exchanges and FINRA looks at who traded before announcements, and that review can lead to requests to brokerage firms, then to the SEC, and sometimes to federal prosecutors. Insider trading questions also reach people who never worked at the company: a relative, a friend, a neighbor, or a professional contact who allegedly passed or received information. What usually matters is where your information came from and why it was shared with you. A request for information is not an accusation, but how you answer the first one tends to shape the rest.
Two agencies, two kinds of case
The SEC brings civil enforcement actions, which can seek money remedies and restrictions on future roles. Criminal cases are brought by the Department of Justice, often through a U.S. Attorney's Office, and the two frequently run in parallel or one after the other. Testimony given to the SEC can be shared with prosecutors, so an interview described as informal deserves the same care as a formal one. Knowingly lying to a regulator can become a separate problem from the trading itself. Keep your brokerage statements, research notes, and messages from around the time of the trade, and do not delete chats or call logs, even ones that seem unrelated.
Reconstructing why you traded
Many people traded for reasons they can explain: a long-planned sale, a habit of buying in that sector, an analyst report, or a tip that turned out to be public. In a first meeting we build a timeline of what you knew, when you learned it, and when you placed the order, and we compare it with what the market knew. We also look at whether an employer's trading plan, blackout rules, or pre-clearance records exist and help. Then we decide whether to respond in writing, provide documents, or prepare for testimony, and whether someone else in the picture needs separate counsel.
