SEC settles with consulting firm partner charged with insider trading ahead of GreenSky deal
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a proposed consent judgment regarding Puneet Dikshit, a partner at a global management consulting firm, charged with illegally trading in advance of the GreenSky acquisition by Goldman Sachs.
According to the proposed judgment, seen by FX News Group, the defendant is permanently restrained and enjoined from violating, directly or indirectly, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5], by using any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security:
- (a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;
- (b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or
- (c) to engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person.
Upon motion of the Commission, the Court will determine whether it is appropriate to order a civil penalty pursuant to pursuant to Section 21(A) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u-1], and, if so, the amount of civil penalty.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that in the course of providing consulting services, Dikshit learned highly confidential information concerning The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s impending acquisition of the consumer loan fintech platform GreenSky Inc. According to the SEC’s complaint, in the days leading up to the acquisition announcement on Sept. 15, 2021, Dikshit used this information to purchase out-of-the-money GreenSky call options that were set to expire just days after the announcement.
The SEC’s complaint further alleges that Dikshit violated his firm’s policies by failing to pre-clear these options purchases, which he sold on the morning of the acquisition announcement for illicit profits totaling over $450,000.