The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said it has filed insider trading charges against Steve Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana. The SEC said Buyer bought $568,000 in Sprint stock in his own accounts and other accounts after a T-Mobile TMUS, +2.06% executive told him at a March 2018 golf outing about the planned merger of the two wireless carriers before the deal had been made public, with those trades providing an immediate profit of more than $107,000. The regulatory agency also said Buyer bought more than $1 million in Navigant Consulting shares in 2019 across several accounts ahead of a public announcement that the company would be acquired by Guidehouse, with those trades providing a profit of more than $227,000. T-Mobile and Guidehouse had been clients of a consulting business that Buyer established after leaving the U.S. House of Representatives. “When insiders like Buyer – an attorney, a former prosecutor, and a retired Congressman – monetize their access to material, nonpublic information, as alleged in this case, they not only violate the federal securities laws, but also undermine public trust and confidence in the fairness of our markets,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, in a statement. “We are committed to doing all we can to maintain and enhance public trust by leveling the playing field and holding Buyer accountable for illegally profiting from his access.” Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been pushing for a ban on buying and selling of individual stocks by current members of Congress.
