The SEC charged a vice president in the risk management department of Nomura with insider trading on confidential information he learned in advance of a private equity firm's acquisition of a publicly-traded technology company.

It's alleged that Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy and wife Shreya Achar (who was named as a relief defendant) began trading in Neustar securities after he learned that Golden Gate Capital planned to acquire Neustar Inc. Apparently, Nomura had been approached by Golden Gate Capital to finance the transaction. The trading took place in November and December of 2016 - in 2 brokerage accounts that Krishnamoorthy allegedly kept hidden from his employer. According to the SEC's complaint, Krishnamoorthy made approximately $48,000 in illicit profits.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York today filed criminal charges against Krishnamoorthy.

The SEC seeks to freeze the brokerage accounts while it continues its investigation.

NOMURA'S NAME LEFT OFF CASE DETAILS.    It's interesting to note that neither the SEC nor FINRA provide any indication that Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy was working for Nomura. In fact, our review of FINRA BrokerCheck revealed only that a person named Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy was registered for one year with Coastal Trade Securities - and that was from 2011 to 2012. So, we're pleased to thank Dealbreaker for disclosing Mr. Krishnamoorthy's employer, and for laying out the timeline in this case.  [See "The Nomura VP Accused Of Insider Trading Really Made It Easy On The SEC", 4/24/17]