WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Feb. 10 that it obtained an emergency court order freezing brokerage accounts amassed by Shaohua (Michael) Yin in the wake of Comcast Corp.’s acquisition of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. after allegations of insider trading.
According to the SEC, Yin compiled $56 million in DreamWorks stock, placing the money in various U.S. brokerage accounts belonging to Chinese nationals. After Comcast acquired DreamWorks, DreamWorks’ stock price rose 47.3 percent.
“Despite the defendant’s alleged attempts to hide his control over these accounts, the SEC’s data analytic investigative tools enabled us to determine who was behind the suspicious trading,” said Michele Wein Layne, director of the SEC's Los Angeles Regional Office. “Our action today shows that the SEC will not hesitate to freeze the assets of foreign traders when they use our markets to conduct illegal activity.”
The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, the return of all profits that were allegedly gained illegally, civil monetary penalties and additional relief.
Handling the case for the SEC are Gary Leung and Amy Longo. Jasmine Starr, Sarah Mitchell and Finola H. Manvelian of the Los Angeles Regional Office, with assistance from John Rymas of the Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit, first looked into the issue.