Tue, Jun 30, 2026
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Alternative Market Briefing

SEC charges 10 in $11m insider trading ring around investment banker's illegal tips on impending mergers

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today charged an investment banker primarily based in Charlotte, N.C., and nine others involved in an insider trading ring that garnered more than $11m in illicit profits trading on confidential information about impending mergers. According to the complaint, the SEC alleges that John W. Femenia misused his position at Wells Fargo Securities to gather nonpublic information about merger transactions involving Wells Fargo clients. He then passed this information on to Shawn C. Hegedus, a long time friend and registered broker setting of a chain of insider trading that spanned five states.

The SEC has obtained a court order freezing the assets of the illegal traders. Femenia was originally based out of North Carolina, and during his time there passed on the majority of his inside information. Later, he moved to a Wells Fargo office in New York and continued to pass on information. According to a statement from the SEC, the others named in the matter include: Aaron M. Wens, who lives in Encinatas, California and Matthew Musante, who lives in Miami. Musante tipped his father Anthony Musante, who lives in Melbourne, Florida. Hegedus tipped his girlfriend Danielle Laurenti and his business colleague Roger A. Williams, who lives in Georgetown, South Carolina. Williams tipped three of his friends: Frank M. Bur......................

To view our full article Click here

Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. Other Voices: Nvidia extraordinary growth and the challenge of sustaining demanding valuations over time[more]

    Antonio Di Giacomo, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com, writes: Nvidia has established itself as one of the most extraordinary growth companies in the global technology sector. Over the past two fiscal years, its revenues have risen from levels close to $60 billion annually to well above $120 billi

  2. Secondaries take center stage: What the 2026 PE landscape means for GPs and investors[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: The 2026 edition of Dechert's Global Private Equity Outlook - "Signs of a Gradual Thaw" - marks a notable shift in industry sentiment. After years of compr

  3. And, finally: Time to share it with the people[more]

    From Newsoftheweird: Leavenworth, Washington, has become a tourist destination because of the Bavarian theme businesses have adopted there, NPR reported. One shop, the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, houses the world's largest nutcracker collection, thanks to 101-year-old Arlene Wagner. Wagner sta

  4. Opalesque Exclusive: Private Markets Evergreen Funds - An Insider's View[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Private Markets Evergreen Funds: What Investors Need to Know Before They Dive In The democratization of private markets is well underway. Structural barriers t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: Governance, Scale, and Boutique Resilience in a Consolidating Hedge Fund Industry[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: The hedge fund industry has undergone significant consolidation in recent years, with capital increasingly concentrated among large multi-strategy platforms. Yet boutique m