“Federal securities regulators have won a partial victory against two brothers accused of trading on inside information in 2009 about French pharmaceutical company Sanofi’s plan to buy a Tennessee-based company.”
A jury in the U.S. district court in Cleveland, Ohio, found that Andrew Jacobs and Leslie Jacobs committed insider trading in the context of a tender offer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced in a statement.
At the same time, the jury also found that the brothers were not liable under a broader insider trading statute not specific to tender offers, Ned Searby, a lawyer for Leslie Jacobs, said.
The decision is the latest in a string of mixed jury verdicts that highlight how difficult it can be for the SEC to obtain clear-cut victories in complex securities cases.
Searby said in an email: “We do not understand the basis for the verdict and we are considering our options.”
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