By James Langton

(November 8 – 10:30 ET) – The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday filed an insider trading complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Richard Svoboda, a former NationsBank, N.A. employee, and his long-time friend Michael Robles, a self-employed certified public accountant.

According to the SEC, Svoboda, a credit policy officer in the Dallas office of NationsBank, was responsible for evaluating credit arrangements with NationsBank corporate clients. In his job Svoboda often obtained material nonpublic information concerning NationsBank’s corporate clients or entities engaged in negotiations with NationsBank corporate clients, including advance notice of mergers, tender offers, quarterly results and other developments.

The SEC says that from June 1994 through December 1997, Svoboda misappropriated material nonpublic information from NationsBank concerning 19 corporate clients. On 12 occasions he traded securities while in possession of material nonpublic information and on 17 occasions he tipped Robles who then traded. The SEC says they made more than US$1.2 million in illegal profits through this trading.

The SEC is seeking to permanently enjoin Svoboda and Robles from violating the Securities Act. It also seeks disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties. In a related action, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced today a 20-count indictment charging Svoboda and Robles with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and fraud in connection with tender offers.