The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil insider trading charges against Kevin J. Heron, the former general counsel, corporate secretary — and chief insider trading compliance officer — of semiconductor outsourcer Amkor Technology.
According to the SEC, Heron’s trading put him $290,000 to the good, either in profits realized or losses avoided.
The commission alleged that from October 2003 through June 2004, Heron executed more than 50 illegal trades in Amkor stock and options on the basis of material, nonpublic information he learned through his position as general counsel. Nearly all the illegal trades took place, added the SEC, while Heron and other company employees were subject to blackout periods that prohibited them from trading in Amkor stock — and even though Heron was responsible for administering Amkor’s blackout periods.
Heron was fired by Amkor in September 2005, according to the SEC.
The commission is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, financial penalties, and an officer-and-director bar.
Heron previously was indicted on four criminal counts for the same alleged acts, reported the Philadelphia Business Journal.
His lawyer, Joseph Aronica of the Washington office of Duane Morris, could not immediately be reached for comment.