Long time without a post; summer doldrums and vacations.  However while some of us bask in the sun, the SEC never sleeps.  Those who follow the case law about insider trading know that recent court decisions have been confusing about what constitutes illegal insider trading, but at least one major case held that the tippee (the actual trader) had to know that the tipper was receiving something of real value for the tippee to be guilty.  Not so, held another recent case.  The SEC, sorely vexed by the earlier decision, says it will seek cert before the US Supreme Court to settle the issue.

The Supreme Court does not have to grant cert, of course, but may be well inclined to do so in this case, upon request of a major regulatory agency and with a split among the courts on the proper standard to apply in a volatile legal area.  We may not hear from the Supreme Court for some time; in the meanwhile, those trading on information are best advised to be comfortable with its provenance.  The SEC has high priority on this area, after absorbing major criticism for its failure to chase individual miscreants in a wide variety of cases including but not limited to insider trading.