U.S. prosecutors in New York have launched an insider-trading probe into a leak of sensitive information from the Federal Reserve in 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Journal said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was also looking into whether anyone had violated insider-trading rules in 2012 when the firm at the center of the investigation, Medley Global Advisors, disclosed to its clients details about the Fed's plans for further economic stimulus.
A spokesman for Medley said the firm “reserves complete editorial freedom in its newsletters, an integral principle for any serious newsgathering organization.”
He said, “Medley’s journalists are focused on providing their readers deep insight,” and that the firm’s work is “made available to all subscribers and has a global audience from Kansas City to Madrid to Tokyo.”
The Fed declined to comment on the investigation and insider-trading probe.
The CFTC began its investigation after news of an internal Fed probe into the matter became public in December 2014.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law gave the CFTC the ability to pursue insider-trading charges based on confidential government information that affects the price of a commodity, including futures. The agency hasn’t yet brought any such charges, the Journal reported.
The investigations by the Southern District of New York and the CFTC are still in the fact-finding stages, and it isn’t clear whether any insider-trading violations occurred.
Medley’s assertion that it is a news organization has raised prickly legal issues for prosecutors, the people said. Earlier this year, former Attorney General Eric Holder issued new rules requiring prosecutors to obtain additional high-level approvals to subpoena materials from reporters involved in investigations, the Journal reported.
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