The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voluntarily dismissed its insider trading complaint against Squire Patton Boggs client Mr. Haijian Luo, the CEO of a China-based online gaming company. In June 2015, the SEC had charged Mr. Luo in federal court in Manhattan with allegedly violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 based upon his purchase of $700,000 worth of short term out-of-the-money (OTM) call options in NYSE listed Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd., immediately prior to Qihoo’s $9 billion buyout announcement. The SEC initially obtained a Court order freezing Mr. Luo’s brokerage account and all profits from the trades in Qihoo’s stock. Squire Patton Boggs was retained thereafter and, following an expedited discovery process, the SEC agreed to dismiss all claims against Mr. Luo.
Gabriel Colwell, lead counsel for Mr. Luo, commented, “The SEC initially filed its complaint based upon incomplete information. Once we were able to provide the SEC Staff with all of the relevant facts, including demonstrating that the trades at issue were consistent with Mr. Luo’s extensive trading history, the SEC was receptive to our request for dismissal.”
The Squire Patton Boggs team of attorneys representing Mr. Luo was led by Gabriel Colwell (LA) and included James Hsu (LA) and Corrine Irish (NY).