The US government is preparing insider-trading charges against a large group of financial consultants, investment bankers, hedge-fund and mutual-fund traders and analysts across the nation, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said on its website that in what could be the largest insider-trading probe in US history, investigators are examining whether multiple insider-trading rings reaped illegal profits totalling tens of millions of dollars. Some charges could be brought before the end of the year, the report said, and could expose a culture of pervasive insider trading in US financial markets.