Feb 26 (Reuters) – An administrative judge has cleared the way for U.S. regulators to take two former Wells Fargo & Co employees to trial in a closely watched case testing the limits of insider trading laws.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Administrative Law Judge Jason Patil in an order Wednesday called it an “exceedingly close matter” of whether a recent federal appellate court ruling on insider trading required tossing the charges against Gregory Bolan and Joseph Ruggieri.
The SEC alleged that Bolan, a research analyst, tipped Ruggieri, a trader, about upcoming upgrades and downgrades in ratings of various companies, allowing Ruggieri to make more than $117,000 in profits for Wells Fargo.