The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a California-based hedge fund analyst with insider trading in advance of a merger of two technology companies based on nonpublic information he received from his friend who was an executive at one of the companies.
The SEC also charged the executive and another trader in the $29 million insider trading scheme.
The SEC alleges that Matthew Teeple of San Clemente, California was tipped in advance of a July 2008 announcement that Foundry Networks Inc. had agreed to be acquired by Brocade Communication Systems Inc. for approximately $3 billion.
Teeple’s source was Foundry’s chief information officer David Riley, a friend who he had previously given investment advice.
Teeple is being represented by Nathan Hochman at Bingham McCutchen in Santa Monica, California
Riley is being represented by John Kaley at Doar Rieck Kaley & Mack in New York.
Teeple then caused the San Francisco-based hedge fund advisory firm where he works to buy Foundry shares in large quantities in the days leading up to the public announcement, and the hedge funds managed by the firm reaped millions of dollars in profits when Foundry’s stock value increased upon the news.
Teeple also tipped a Denver-based investment professional John Johnson who he befriended through a previous working relationship, and Johnson made illegal trades based on the nonpublic information.
Johnson is being represented by Joshua Franklin at Davis & Ceriani in Denver, Colorado.
Riley also tipped Teeple in advance of at least two other major announcements by Foundry, and Teeple’s firm traded on the nonpublic information to make profits or avoid losses.
“David Riley was entrusted with Foundry’s most valuable secrets, but betrayed his company and set off an explosive chain reaction of illegal tips from friend to friend for illicit profits,” said George S. Canellos, Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
In a separate action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced criminal charges against Teeple, Riley, and Johnson.
Johnson pled guilty on March 18, 2013.
“As alleged, when David Riley and Matthew Teeple chose to traffic in inside information involving high-tech companies, they embarked on a high-stakes game that has repeatedly proven to be unwinnable,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “With the charges against them and the plea of John Johnson, the ranks of privileged professionals who behave as if they are above the law continue to swell.”
The SEC alleged that Riley tipped Teeple on the morning of July 16 about Brocade’s impending acquisition of Foundry.
Teeple immediately shared this information with colleagues at his firm as well as Johnson and several others who did buy stocks from Foundry stock, often within minutes of communicating with Teeple.
Foundry stock climbed approximately 32 percent after the public announcement of the merger on July 21.
The SEC alleges that Riley, who lives in San Jose, California, continued to provide material nonpublic information to Teeple about key events throughout the process of Foundry’s acquisition by Brocade, which was not fully completed until December 18, 2008.
Teeple’s firm continued to profitably trade Foundry securities based on this inside information.
For example, Riley tipped Teeple in advance of an October 24 announcement that Foundry’s shareholder vote to approve the acquisition would be delayed “given recent developments related to the transaction.”
Earlier in 2008, Riley tipped Teeple in advance of Foundry’s April 11 earnings forecast so Teeple’s firm could profitably trade in advance of the announcement.
Since October 2009, the SEC has charged more than 430 individuals and entities with insider trading.
The defendants in these cases are alleged to have made approximately $940 million in illicit profits and losses avoided.