BASSAM YACOUB SALMAN, Petitioner v. UNITED STATES, 580 U.S. 39

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-Evidence that an investment banker who dealt with confidential information about mergers and acquisitions involving his employer gave confidential information to his brother, who gave it to the banker's brother-in-law ("defendant"), who used it to make trades, was sufficient to sustain defendant's convictions for conspiracy to commit securities fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C.S. § 371, and securities fraud, in violation of 15 U.S.C.S. § 78j(b); [2]-The U.S. Supreme Court held in Dirks v. SEC that a tippee's liability for trading on inside information hinged on whether a tipper breached a fiduciary duty in providing the information, and defendant's jury was properly instructed that a "personal benefit" included the benefit one would obtain from simply making a gift of confidential information to a trading relative.