Bank of America banker accused of insider trading by SEC over $8.1B deal

The SEC has accused Jason Satsky, a former senior investment banker at Bank of America, of insider trading tied to one of the largest utility acquisitions in recent memory. The case centers on the $8.1 billion takeover of South Jersey Industries in 2022, a deal Satsky personally advised on. The allegation is straightforward: Satsky allegedly leaked material nonpublic information about the acquisition before it was publicly announced. When the deal was disclosed, South Jersey Industries’ stock jumped roughly 40%. Someone, according to regulators, knew that spike was coming. The deal at the center of it all South Jersey Industries, a regional energy infrastructure company, agreed to sell itself to a JPMorgan-backed fund in a transaction valued at $8.1 billion. Satsky was part of the Bank of America team that advised on the deal. In that role, he would have had access to the kind of confidential information that could make someone very wealthy if shared with the right person at the right time. The investigation focuses on whether Satsky tipped off an individual with details about the pending acquisition. The US Department of Justice has been examining the matter for over a year, probi...