The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an insider trading case against Jason Satsky, a former senior investment banker at Bank of America, and Gavin Wolfe, a longtime friend and former colleague who runs Evergreen Capital. The SEC alleges that Satsky provided Wolfe with material nonpublic information about the pending acquisition of South Jersey Industries, an energy holding company that Bank of America was advising.

𝗦𝗘𝗖 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝘅-𝗕𝗼𝗳𝗔 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 $𝟭𝟴.𝟱𝗠 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 🚨 The SEC has charged former Bank of America banker Jason Satsky and Gavin Wolfe over alleged insider trading linked to South Jersey Industries. The… pic.twitter.com/RAYxcBlbFO

— Analytics Insight (@analyticsinme), August 22, 2026

What the Commission Alleges About the South Jersey Industries Deal

According to the SEC's litigation release, Wolfe allegedly bought more than 2.2 million shares of South Jersey Industries before the acquisition was announced and realized approximately $18.5 million in profits after the stock price rose. The SEC also alleges that Wolfe tipped others, whose trading generated approximately $515,000 in profits.

The complaint focuses on how confidential deal information allegedly moved through a longstanding personal and professional relationship rather than through a public or formal market channel. Both defendants have denied the allegations through counsel.

The SEC filed fraud charges against Wolfe and Satsky on August 21, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The agency alleges that Satsky was co-head of an energy and utilities group at a New York investment bank that advised South Jersey Industries on its potential acquisition, and that he served as lead banker on the transaction. Lead bankers on pending mergers are a recurring focus of insider trading enforcement because they sit on market-moving information well before it becomes public.

South Jersey Industries, whose utilities include natural gas distributor South Jersey Gas, announced on February 24, 2022, that it had agreed to be acquired by Infrastructure Investments Fund, a private investment fund; the transaction closed in early 2023, and the company no longer trades publicly. Reuters reported that the buyout was valued at approximately $8.1 billion. The SEC alleges that Satsky tipped Wolfe off to the potential acquisition before the announcement.

Wolfe and Satsky had been friends for more than 20 years and were also former colleagues. Reuters reported that they communicated multiple times about a possible acquisition. This included an occasion when they and their wives attended a nationally televised Duke–Kentucky college basketball game at Madison Square Garden, where Satsky had luxury-box seats obtained through Bank of America, according to Reuters.

The SEC alleges that Wolfe purchased more than 2.2 million South Jersey Industries shares valued at about $53 million. The agency said Wolfe earned approximately $18.5 million as the stock price rose by approximately 40% following the acquisition announcement, while Reuters reported a 36% gain on Wolfe's position. (Source: Investing.com)

Personal Relationships and Confidential Deal Information

The SEC's allegations place a longstanding friendship at the center of the case. The agency alleges that confidential information regarding a potential corporate transaction was shared between two people with a long-standing business and personal relationship. The reported Madison Square Garden gathering is among the interactions cited in reporting on the matter, and the SEC alleges that Satsky and Wolfe communicated multiple times about the potential acquisition before the transaction became public.

Friend-to-friend tipping cases often turn on the “personal benefit” element the Supreme Court outlined in Dirks v. SEC (1983) and revisited in Salman v. United States (2016), which held that a gift of confidential information to a trading relative or friend can satisfy that requirement.

Bank of America was not accused of wrongdoing. The bank confirmed that Satsky no longer works there, and the SEC said that Bank of America terminated him in March 2025.

Charges and Requested Remedies

$18.5M Courtroom Clash: SEC Accuses Ex-Banker of High-Stakes Insider Tipping The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Jason Satsky, a former Bank of America investment banker, with insider trading. Regulators allege Satsky tipped long-time friend Gavin Wolfe about an… pic.twitter.com/Ph76wfSCAy

— TechShots (@techshotsapp), August 22, 2026

The SEC's complaint charges Wolfe and Satsky with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, the antifraud provisions that prohibit trading or tipping on the basis of material nonpublic information in breach of a duty of trust or confidence. The agency seeks permanent injunctions, civil monetary penalties, and officer-and-director bars against both Wolfe and Satsky.

The complaint separately seeks disgorgement and prejudgment interest against Wolfe. It also seeks a conduct-based injunction against Satsky. In addition, the SEC named several entities through which Wolfe allegedly traded as relief defendants and seeks disgorgement and prejudgment interest against those entities. Relief defendants are not charged with wrongdoing; the designation allows the agency to pursue proceeds it alleges are held by those who received them.

Defense Responses

In statements issued after the charges became public, lawyers for both men responded to the allegations. Satsky's lawyer said that Satsky denies providing Wolfe, or anyone else, with material nonpublic information regarding South Jersey Industries and expects the evidence to support his position.

Wolfe's lawyer said Wolfe denies the allegations and maintains that his South Jersey Industries purchases were based on an independent investment thesis. The lawyer also said the SEC had overlooked sworn testimony and documents supporting that account.

The SEC's charges are civil allegations that remain to be proven, and the requested remedies would be determined as the case proceeds in federal court.