U.S. v. Newman and Chiasson

In a ruling that could constrain prosecutors’ ability to go after people who trade on leaks, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Dec. 10 threw out the insider trading convictions of two hedge fund managers convicted by a federal jury. The decision marked the first—and at press time still the only—higher-court rebuke after some 85 similar convictions won by federal prosecutors in New York during U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s tenure.