Anthony Viggiano, Stephen A. Forlano, Christopher Salamone, and Nathan Bleckley

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 25861 / September 28, 2023

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Anthony Viggiano, Stephen A. Forlano, Christopher Salamone, and Nathan Bleckley, No. 1:23-cv-08542 (S.D.N.Y. filed September 28, 2023)

SEC Charges Former Financial Industry Analyst and Three Others with Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Anthony Viggiano, a former analyst at a major investment firm and later at an international investment bank, and Christopher Salamone, Stephen A. Forlano, and Nathan Bleckley, for insider trading in advance of numerous merger and acquisition transactions.

According to the SEC's complaint, in connection with his work at two financial institutions, Viggiano learned about impending merger and acquisition transactions and strategic partnerships before they were publicly announced. Viggiano, a resident of Baldwin, New York, allegedly obtained material nonpublic information about eight such transactions and tipped his friend Salamone, who grew up on the same block and whom he has known for approximately 20 years, about at least six of them. Salamone, a resident of Long Beach, New York, allegedly traded in advance of the six transactions, resulting in proceeds of approximately $322,000. Salamone allegedly agreed to share his trading proceeds with Viggiano because Viggiano's own employer prohibited him from engaging in such trades. The complaint further alleges that Viggiano tipped his close, college friend Forlano about at least four transactions and that Forlano made approximately $113,000 in illegal profits trading in advance of three of those transactions. Forlano, a resident of Tampa, Florida, also allegedly tipped other individuals, including his close, college friend Bleckley, a resident of Altus, Oklahoma, who traded in advance of two transactions, resulting in illegal gains of almost $25,000.

The case originated from the SEC's Market Abuse Unit's Analysis and Detection Center, which uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious trading patterns.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, charges Viggiano, Salamone, Forlano, and Bleckley with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, charges Viggiano and Salamone with also violating the antifraud provisions of Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14e-3 thereunder, and seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against all four defendants.

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

The SEC's ongoing investigation is being conducted by Market Abuse Unit staff members Jeffrey Oraker and Mark L. Williams, with the assistance of John Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit's Analysis and Detection Center, as well as Alexander Lefferts and Yongping Zheng of the Division of Enforcement's Office of Investigative & Market Analytics, and is being supervised by Danielle Voorhees and Joseph Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. The SEC's litigation will be led by Ian Kellogg, under the supervision of Gregory A. Kasper. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

• SEC Complaint