Zachary Zwerko

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 23113 / October 15, 2014

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Zachary Zwerko, Civil Action No. 14-cv-8181

SEC Charges Former Financial Analyst At Pharmaceutical Company with Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action on October 10, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against a Massachusetts man who allegedly tipped his friend with nonpublic information about potential acquisition targets of the pharmaceutical company where he worked.

The SEC alleges that Zachary Zwerko was tasked with evaluating potential acquisitions, and he repeatedly accessed confidential files about his employer's acquisition targets and passed details onto a friend from business school so he could purchase securities prior to public announcements. Zwerko accessed and shared information about a deal he was assigned to work on as well as a potential acquisition tasked to others. The illegal tips enabled his friend to make approximately $683,000 in illicit profits.

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

The complaint charges Zwerko, who lives in Cambridge Mass., with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Dominick D. Barbieri, Neil Hendelman, and Charles D. Riely. The case has been supervised by Mr. Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.