SEC Charges Ronald Smith Insider Trading

SEC Litigation Releases

Filed March 30th, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

The SEC filed insider trading charges against Ronald Smith, a Connecticut resident and registered representative for a New York-based broker-dealer, alleging he traded on material nonpublic information misappropriated from a New York investment bank. Smith generated approximately $530,000 in illicit profits and, with a colleague, recommended trades to customers resulting in millions in customer profits and hundreds of thousands in split commissions.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

The SEC charged Ronald Smith in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (No. 26-cv-02582) with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Smith allegedly received MNPI from his close friend and colleague Jordan Meadow, who obtained it from Steven Teixeira, who had misappropriated it from an executive assistant's laptop at a New York investment bank. Smith traded securities of at least two issuers and generated approximately $530,000 in illicit profits. Smith and Meadow also used the information to recommend trades to shared customers, resulting in millions in customer profits and hundreds of thousands in commissions split evenly.

Broker-dealers and registered representatives should review and strengthen their information barrier procedures and insider trading compliance programs. The SEC seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties. The case was investigated by the SEC's Philadelphia Regional Office and Market Abuse Unit, with assistance from the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Co-defendants Meadow and Teixeira were previously charged in June 2023.

What to do next

Review insider trading policies and information barrier procedures
Enhance MNPI handling protocols for registered representatives
Ensure compliance training covers tipper-tippee liability scenarios

Penalties

Injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, civil monetary penalties (amounts not specified)

Source document (simplified)

Ronald Smith

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26513 / March 30, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ronald Smith, No. 26-cv-02582 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 30, 2026)

SEC Charges Connecticut Resident in Alleged Insider Trading Scheme

On March 30, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against Ronald Smith, a Connecticut resident and then-registered representative for a New York-based broker-dealer, who was allegedly tipped material nonpublic information misappropriated from the laptop of an employee of a New York-based investment bank to trade in the securities of at least two public companies.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Smith traded in the securities of two issuers based on material nonpublic information he received from his close friend and colleague, Jordan Meadow. The complaint alleges that Meadow obtained the information from Steven Teixeira, who had misappropriated the information from the laptop of his then-romantic partner, an executive assistant at the investment bank. As alleged, Smith traded based on the material nonpublic information and generated approximately $530,000 in illicit profits. Additionally, according to the complaint, Smith and Meadow used the misappropriated information to recommend trades to their shared customers, which resulted in millions of dollars in profits for their customers and hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions that Smith and Meadow split evenly.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Smith with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties. The Commission previously filed insider trading charges against Meadow and Teixeira in June 2023.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Norman P. Ostrove of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office and Julia C. Green of the Division of Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit, with assistance from John S. Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center. It was supervised by Scott A. Thompson of the Philadelphia Regional Office and Joseph G. Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. The litigation will be led by Kara F. Sweet and supervised by Gregory Bockin of the Philadelphia Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.