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SEC v. Christopher Collins, et al. (insider trading, 2019)

Settled

Checked against the primary document on October 3, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In December 2019 the SEC announced settlements with Congressman Christopher Collins, his son Cameron and Stephen Zarsky over trading on negative Innate Immunotherapeutics trial results, which avoided losses above $700,000. Christopher Collins accepted an officer-and-director bar; Cameron Collins and Zarsky agreed to disgorge avoided losses plus interest of $634,299 and $159,880, subject to court approval.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency SEC
Release number LR-24687
Date filed 2019-12-10
Date resolved 2019-12-10
Court U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Status settled
Criminal parallel Yes: guilty plea (Christopher Collins, Cameron Collins and Stephen Zarsky)
Bars imposed officer-and-director bar
Defendants Christopher Collins (individual) ; Cameron Collins (individual) ; Stephen Zarsky (individual)
Cited as charged or alleged Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Securities Act s.17(a) (statutes and rules cited in the document; not a finding that they were violated)
Techniques Insider trading

What was ordered

Civil penalty
—
Disgorgement
—
Prejudgment interest
—
Total relief
—
Alleged gain
$700k

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The proposed judgments enjoin all three under Section 10(b), Rule 10b-5 and Section 17(a). The two traders sold nearly 1.7 million shares ahead of the announcement. The release gives their payments only as totals of disgorgement and interest, so none is stored in the money fields. A parallel criminal case exists.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

Timeline

  1. 2019-12-10 Litigation release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

Date filed Agency Record Status
2018-08-10 SEC SEC v. Christopher Collins, et al., Lauren Zarksy, Dorothy Zarsky (insider trading, 2018) Settled
2019-12-10 SEC SEC v. Christopher Collins, et al. (insider trading, 2019)(this record) Settled

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Trijya Vakil and Neeraj Visen (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-09-04 Insider Trading $109k settled
CFTC v. Gabriel Perez (insider trading, 2026) CFTC 2026-08-28 Insider Trading $65k judgment
SEC v. Gavin Wolfe and others (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-08-21 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Jesse R. Mitchell (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-08-21 Insider Trading — filed
SEBI v. Arun Kumar Somani and others (insider trading review, Indian Oil Corporation, 2026) SEBI (India) 2026-08-13 Insider Trading — dismissed
SEC v. Benjamin Tesfaye (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-08-11 Insider Trading $18.7k settled

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.