SEC v. Steven C. Watson (insider trading, 2015)

Settled

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The SEC's November 2015 insider trading case against Steven Watson over Cooper Tire shares ended in a consent final judgment filed on 8 July 2019 in the District of Massachusetts. It orders $145,373 in disgorgement and no penalty or interest figure in the text read.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$145k

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$145k

Alleged gain

$170k

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 November 17, 2015 as release LR-23408. The respondents named are Steven C. Watson (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.

Watson consented to the final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations. The judgment, filed on 8 July 2019, permanently enjoins him from violating the antifraud provisions and holds him liable for disgorgement of $145,373, described as profit from the conduct alleged in the complaint. The text I read contains no civil penalty or prejudgment interest. The consent judgment settles the SEC's claim that he traded in Cooper Tire securities on inside information about a planned acquisition, without a trial of those facts.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary documents linked above. This page summarises the structured record and does not reproduce them.

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. 2015-11-17 Litigation release published
2. 2019-07-08 Consent final judgment filed as to Watson (D. Mass.)

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
• Final judgment as to Steven C. Watson (8 Jul 2019)

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.