S.E.C. to Probe Dow Jones Director on Insider Trading

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:39:33 -0400

The Securities and Exchange Commission has given notice to Dow Jones board member David K.P. Li that he will be investigated for insider trading after a couple to whom he is "indirectly linked" made $8.2 million in a matter of days by buying Dow Jones stock immediately before news leaked that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. was planning a takeover bid.

The New York Times' Richard Perez-Pena reports:

On May 8, the commission filed an insider-trading complaint against Kan King Wong and Charlotte Ka On Wong Leung, a husband and wife who live in Hong Kong. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, stated that from April 13 to April 30, they bought $15 million worth of Dow Jones stock at about $36 a share.

The purchases appeared to be far beyond the couple’s means, regulators said. More than $4.8 million was paid with margin loans, and almost $7.2 million was wired to their Merrill Lynch accounts in mid-April.

At least one deposit, almost $3.2 million, was wired to them by Ms. Leung’s father, Michael Leung Kai Hung, on April 18. Mr. Leung has a number of business and social ties to Mr. Li, the Dow Jones director, including a seat on the board of the Canadian subsidiary of Mr. Li’s bank.

Observer » S.E.C. to Probe Dow Jones Director on Insider Trading

S.E.C. to Probe Dow Jones Director on Insider Trading