SEC charges duo with insider trading over healthcare deals

Two Chinese citizens at a peer-to-peer lending platform have been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on account of insider trading allegations, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit, which was made public on Tuesday, stated Yooli.com web administrator Zhichen Zhou engaged in "highly suspicious" trading of MedAssets Inc and Chindex International Inc.

The two companies had then been involved in private equity takeovers where one of the companies bidding was a place where Zhou’s cousin and Yooli.com chief executive Yannan Liu, who is also charged, had previously worked.

Reuters reported the SEC alleged trading Zhou engaged in before the deals were made public allowed him to make a profit of $306,930 (£202,035).

The SEC said there was "strong circumstantial evidence" that the trades were due to the pair engaging in insider trading, with Liu’s association with TPG putting him in a position to obtain confidential information.