Begelman is not an iconic name.  Indeed, he is a Florida retiree.  But he is illustrative of the fine tooth comb that now runs through the hair of our trading experience in public shares.

The story is short and easy to understand: at a group gathering he learned of confidential information about a merger, he traded on the information and made money in 2011.  He had no relationship with the company involved, or the proposed transaction.  Then he got caught.

What is interesting are the numbers; his ill-gotteng gain was less than $15,000 on a 25,000 share trade.  What that tells us is this: the FINRA and SEC will focus on small, very small infractions of insider trading.  Nothing is too small a nit to avoid being caught in the regulatory comb.  In an age of huge numbers, huge deals and huge fines, no one should assume that the little violations will go undiscovered.

You might want to look at the SEC release from April 22, and see if you think Begelman deserved the haircut he got.  See http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-66.htm.