According to news reports, Massachusetts securities regulators are investigating insider stock sales by executives of beleaguered First Republic and SVB Financial. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin told a news outlet that his office had issued a subpoena against First Republic. Galvin is seeking information on the firm’s overall policies on insider stock trading as well as specifics about how its executives have traded since Jan. 1, according to the newswire.
Several of the bank’s executives this year have sold their shares in the firm, whose stock is down almost 90% this month following SVB’s collapse, Reuters writes.
According to reports citing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, First Republic founder and executive chairman James Herbert, for example, has sold $4.5 million worth of shares so far this year.
Chief Executive Officer Michael Roffler sold nearly $1 million worth of his shares in January, Reuters writes. The investigation has just begun and may not lead to regulatory action, Reuters writes.
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower who represents persons under the Securities and Exchange whistleblower program, the CFTC whistleblower program and also under the False CLaims Act. He can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
