SEC accuses ex-Bank of America utilities banker of insider trading
Regulator says Jason Satsky helped a friend make $18.5mn in illegal profits tied to planned takeover of South Jersey Industries
The US securities regulator has accused a former Bank of America investment banker of helping a friend make $18.5mn in illegal profits via insider trading.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday sued the bank’s former head of energy and power infrastructure, Jason Satsky, alleging that he had told his close friend Gavin Wolfe about a planned takeover deal on which he was the lead investment banker.
The SEC accused the two men of communicating multiple times while Satsky possessed material non-public information about a potential acquisition of South Jersey Industries, including when they attended a university basketball game together at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 9 2021.
The regulator said Wolfe bought more than 2.2mn shares of South Jersey stock at a total cost of $53mn between November and December of that year. This came after the chief executive of South Jersey called Satsky in September 2021 to hire him to represent the natural gas utility in a potential sale, according to the complaint.
After South Jersey announced it had agreed to be acquired in February 2022, Wolfe — who was also sued by the SEC — made $18.5mn in illegal profits, the SEC alleged. Wolfe was also a former BofA employee but did not work there at the time of the alleged insider trading.
“Within minutes of the November 9 basketball game ending, after spending approximately three hours with Satsky at Madison Square Garden, Wolfe created a calendar entry for himself at 12:12am that read ‘SJi and njr’ using the New York Stock Exchange ticker symbols for South Jersey and another company,” the SEC said in the filing.
The two friends had “a long history of exchanging favours, both personal and professional, that extended to their families”, according to the complaint, which also mentioned texts that the two men exchanged related to Wolfe helping Satsky’s son with a university application.
The SEC’s complaint did not identify the university by name but said that Satsky had attended its law and business school and that Wolfe was an “influential donor” to the university, which the latter’s children attended as undergraduates. Satsky’s LinkedIn profile shows that he graduated from Duke University.
Duke’s basketball team defeated the University of Kentucky in a game at Madison Square Garden on November 9 2021.
The SEC’s complaint said Satsky worked for an unnamed investment bank, but his profile at self-regulatory body Finra shows he worked at BofA from 2019 to 2025.
A person familiar with the matter said Satsky has left the bank as part of a wave of lay-offs more than a year ago. The former banker is listed as co-managing partner of Climate Real Impact Solutions, an investment company, on LinkedIn.
BofA is not accused of any wrongdoing. It declined to comment.
Satsky and Wolfe did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment.