SEC charges two ex-investment bankers with $18.5 million insider trading scheme

Satsky and Wolfe accused of exploiting acquisition information

According to the SEC, Mark Satsky, 59, served as a senior banker specializing in energy and utilities at a prominent New York bank and played a lead role in South Jersey Industries’ business. The agency claims Satsky communicated with David Wolfe, 55, a friend and former colleague, in the period leading up to a takeover of South Jersey Industries.

Investigators allege Wolfe purchased approximately 2.2 million shares of South Jersey Industries between November and December 2021, at a cost of over $53 million. These trades, conducted before the public announcement of Infrastructure Investments Fund’s $8.1 billion deal to take South Jersey private at $36 per share, generated an $18.5 million profit after South Jersey’s stock surged nearly 40 percent on the news.

The SEC asserts that Satsky and Wolfe discussed a potential company acquisition on several occasions, including during a widely broadcast college basketball game attended with their wives.

Wolfe is accused of trading through eight entities linked to his family’s assets, including Evergreen Capital and GAW Holdings, to conceal the source and scale of his purchases.

Both men left Credit Suisse for Bank of America in 2012, and Evergreen Capital is reported to manage Wolfe family interests.

Mini dictionary: Evergreen Capital, an asset management firm managing family investments, was cited by the SEC as one of several entities allegedly used by Wolfe to carry out trades seen as disguising his involvement.

Regulator inquiry leads to investigation and firings

The SEC’s complaint describes efforts by the two individuals to hide their activities. After the South Jersey Industries takeover was announced, a regulatory inquiry prompted Bank of America to launch an internal review into unusual trading patterns. Bank of America discharged Satsky in March 2025 after the investigation.

Manhattan’s U.S. Attorney’s office has been examining the same transaction since at least spring 2024. No criminal charges have been filed at this stage.

Satsky’s lawyer, Robert Anello, stated that his client firmly denies the SEC’s claims and insists he did not disclose any confidential information to Wolfe regarding the takeover. Separately, Wolfe’s attorney, Reed Brodsky, rejected the accusations, contending that the SEC ignored testimony and evidence that his client made the investments based on his independent analysis.

Legal representatives for both Satsky and Wolfe have challenged the SEC’s narrative, with each maintaining their client’s innocence regarding the insider trading allegations.

SEC boosts insider trading enforcement under Atkins

The case aligns with the SEC’s stated intent to increase focus on insider trading, market manipulation, fiduciary duty breaches, and accounting fraud, as emphasized under current commissioner Paul Atkins. The SEC recently formed a Financial Reporting and Accounting Unit within its Enforcement Division to better target such violations.

Cornerstone Research reported a roughly 60 percent decline in overall enforcement actions after Atkins assumed office in April 2025. Meanwhile, crypto-related financial penalties dropped to $142 million in 2025, less than 3 percent of the previous year’s total.

The charges brought against Satsky and Wolfe allege violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and officer-and-director bans for both men, as well as disgorgement and prejudgment interest from Wolfe and a conduct-based injunction on Satsky.