SEC v. Dennis W. Hamilton (insider trading, 2016)

Settled

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 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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The SEC charged former Harman International executive Dennis Hamilton with insider trading in Harman stock, first in February 2016 and then with an amended complaint adding four more instances. A consent final judgment was filed on September 25, 2018 requiring $730,279 in disgorgement, $102,145 in interest and a $584,047 penalty, offset by $131,958 ordered in his criminal case.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$584k

Disgorgement

$730k

Prejudgment interest

$102k

Total relief

$1.4m

Alleged gain

$977k

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 Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on September 7, 2016 as release LR-23637. The respondents named are Dennis W. Hamilton (1 individual, 0 entities).

This library tags the matter as insider trading, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The release references a parallel criminal proceeding. Where a criminal case exists, the civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

SEC release 24311 reports that the court entered a final judgment on Hamilton's consent resolving all claims: disgorgement of $730,279, prejudgment interest of $102,145 and a civil penalty of $584,047, an injunction against further violations and an officer-and-director bar. The judgment document in the District of Connecticut is dated September 25, 2018. The monetary judgment is offset by $131,958 that he was ordered to pay in the parallel criminal case, in which he pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and was sentenced to eight months in prison. The SEC also suspended him from practising before it as an accountant. He consented without admitting or denying the allegations. This record and the other Dennis Hamilton record describe the same civil case (3:16-cv-00192), the first before and the second after the amended complaint, and carry the same outcome. Checked on 2026-10-04.

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.

• Insider trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2016-09-07 Litigation release published
2. 2018-09-25 Final judgment on consent entered (SEC LR-24311)

Primary documents

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

• SEC litigation release
• SEC litigation release 24311 (final judgment)
• Final judgment as to Hamilton

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.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.