FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Yonghui Zhang in Global Education Insider Trading Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on December 20, 2013 it obtained a final judgment against Yonghui Zhang, the remaining defendant in an insider trading case involving the securities of Beijing-based Global Education and Technology Group, Ltd. The case, which was originally filed in the U.S. District Court in Chicago on December 5, 2011, charged eight defendants, including Zhang, with insider trading after they reaped more than $2.8 million in profits by trading in advance of a publicly announced merger between Global Education and London-based Pearson plc.
The SEC’s first amended complaint, filed on December 13, 2011, alleged that Yonghui Zhang, a Global Education employee and brother of David Zhang, CEO of Global Education, purchased 7,900 shares of Global Education on the last trading day before the merger announcement. The first amended complaint also alleged that Pearson and Global Education each announced before trading began on November 21, 2011 that Pearson agreed to acquire all of Global Education’s outstanding stock for $294 million. Global Education’s stock price increased 97 percent that day, from $5.37 to $10.60. The SEC alleged that Zhang profited by more than $40,000 from his illegal trading.
Zhang consented to the entry of a final judgment enjoining him from future violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, ordering Zhang to pay disgorgement of $40,494, and ordering a civil penalty against Zhang in the amount of $40,494. The relief obtained concludes the litigation in SEC v. All Know Holdings Ltd, et al.
