Penalties for Insider Trading Lawyers

Overview

Insider trading is the illegal trading of stock in a publicly held company by a person with inside or advanced information, based on their ¿status¿ as an insider. Such transactions are illegal because they are unfair and undermine public trust in the securities market. Insider trading is a federal crime, and is thus prosecuted in federal court.

Penalties

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can obtain a court order forcing a person convicted of insider training to return all the profits they made from their illegal transaction. Furthermore, the SEC can also ask the court to impose a fine of up to three times the amount of the realized profits. Offenders may also face imprisonment and other criminal penalties, such as an offense on their permanent criminal record.

How Can a Lawyer Help?

If you have been accused of insider trading or another white collar crime, a criminal defense attorney can advise you of your legal rights and defenses.