By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged a former senior Bank of America investment banker with insider trading, alleging he tipped a longtime friend and former colleague about a pending merger, allowing the friend to make $18.5 million of illegal profit.
Jason Satsky, who was Bank of America’s co-head of Americas power and renewable energy banking, allegedly tipped Gavin Wolfe in late 2021 about the potential acquisition of South
Jersey Industries, an energy holding company that the bank was advising.
The SEC said Wolfe, who runs the firm Evergreen Capital and has been Satsky's friend for more than 20 years, bought more than 2.2 million shares of the South Jersey Gas parent worth about $53 million, and realized a 36% gain after the company announced an $8.1 billion buyout on February 24, 2022.
Satsky and Wolfe allegedly communicated multiple times about a possible acquisition, including when they and their wives attended a nationally televised college basketball game between Duke and Kentucky at Madison Square Garden, where Satsky had luxury box seats obtained through Bank of America.
The lawsuit seeks to recoup ill-gotten gains from Wolfe, and impose civil fines and officer-and-director bans against Satsky and Wolfe, among other remedies.
Satsky, 59, lives in New York, while Wolfe, 55, lives in New York and Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.
"Jason strongly denies the SEC’s allegations and is confident that the evidence will demonstrate that he acted properly and that he will be fully vindicated," Satsky's lawyer Robert Anello said in a statement. "Jason did not provide Gavin Wolfe, or anyone else, with material nonpublic information regarding South Jersey Industries."
Reed Brodsky, a lawyer for Wolfe, in a statement said his client "categorically denies the allegations and will vigorously defend himself." He also said the SEC ignored sworn testimony and documents that showed Wolfe bought South Jersey shares based on an "independent investment thesis."
Wolfe was a senior power and renewable energy banker at Credit Suisse before he and Satsky joined Bank of America in 2012. Evergreen manages Wolfe family assets. Bank of America terminated Satsky in March 2025, the SEC said.
Bank of America was not accused of wrongdoing and confirmed Satsky no longer works there. Evergreen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
