The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicted 21 people for alleged cross-border insider trading that spans up to ten years.

According to Mars Finance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has filed lawsuits against 21 individuals, accusing them of participating in a nearly decade-long transnational insider trading scheme that allegedly profited millions of dollars illegally using undisclosed material information leaked by multiple international law firms. The SEC stated that Los Angeles mergers and acquisitions lawyer Nicolo Nourafchan and his partner Robert Yadgarov organized and operated the insider trading network. Nourafchan is accused of stealing material non-public information related to more than 12 corporate mergers and acquisitions from his law firm clients and leaking it to other participants, who then profited through the transactions and returned a portion of the profits. The SEC also stated that the two recruited another corporate lawyer to continue obtaining more merger and acquisition insider information and disseminating it for trading. The SEC stated that this enforcement action demonstrates its determination to "combat large-scale insider trading networks and hold the entire leak chain accountable." Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts has filed criminal charges against all those involved. Regulatory agencies from multiple countries, including the FBI, the UK FCA, and the Swiss FINMA, are also assisting in the investigation.