WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Two traders in China and Hong Kong have agreed to pay more than $920,000 to settle an insider trading case against them, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a press release.
"Cousins and business associates Zhichen Zhou and Yannan Liu, whose assets were frozen by an emergency court order [in November]… must disgorge their entire ill-gotten profits of $306,929.59 plus pay penalties of $306,929.59 each," the release stated on Monday.
The court approved the settlement earlier on Monday, the SEC noted.
The SEC’s complaint alleged that Zhou and Liu "traded two health care company stocks (MedAssets Inc. and Chindex International) based on nonpublic information about their impending acquisitions by private equity firms."
Zhou and Liu, who reside in Beijing and Hong Kong respectively, settled the charges without admitting or denying the allegations and consented to the final judgment, the SEC statement added.
