Obama administration seeks Supreme Court review in closely watched insider trading case

The Obama administration wants the Supreme Court to reinstate securities fraud convictions against two hedge fund portfolio managers. The administration says an appeals court ruling in their favor makes it harder to prosecute insider trading.

The Justice Department says that the justices should reverse the December ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and reinstate the convictions of Anthony Chiasson of New York and Todd Newman of Massachusetts.

The appellate judges said the defendants were too far removed from inside information to be prosecuted and more generally criticized criminal cases that resulted in over 80 insider trading convictions since 2008.

But the government says that the appellate ruling conflicted with a 1983 Supreme Court decision and the rulings of other federal courts of appeals.