SEC charges execs with insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the vice chairman of the International Securities Exchange and two financial consultants with alleged insider trading. The trades occurred prior to the exchange’s acquisition by Eurex Frankfurt in a $2.8 billion deal. John Marshall obtained non-public information about the pending deal and provided it to two business associates at a financial consulting firm, according to The U.S. Attorney’s office in New York. The ISE said that Mr. Marshall resigned after the charges were announced. The deal was announced in April 2007 and closed in December. Alan L. Tucker and Mark R. Larson, principals at Marshall Tucker & Associates LLC, a derivatives consulting firm in Port Jefferson, N.Y., purchased ISE securities resulting in illegal profits of $1.1 million and $31,000, respectively. Each of the defendants is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and 10 counts of securities fraud. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years, while each securities fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.