SEC v. Walter C. Little and Andrew M. Berke (insider trading, 2017)

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.

Report an error in this record (sec-walter-c-little-insider-trading-2017) by email

In May 2017 the SEC charged law firm partner Walter C. Little and his neighbor Andrew M. Berke with insider trading around at least 11 client announcements, alongside criminal charges. Both pleaded guilty in the criminal case, and the court entered consent final judgments on February 14 and 22, 2019. Their disgorgement was deemed satisfied by criminal forfeiture, in Berke's case plus a payment to the SEC.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$1m

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$1m

Alleged gain

—

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 SEC alleged that Little read confidential files on his law firm's network about at least 11 pending client announcements, traded ahead of each, and often passed the information to Berke, who traded too, earning more than $1 million between February 2015 and February 2016. The U.S. Attorney's Office filed parallel criminal charges the same day.

The SEC's release of February 22, 2019 reports that both men pleaded guilty. Little was sentenced to 27 months in prison on February 22, 2018 with three years of supervised release and forfeiture; Berke received time served and three years of supervised release, including four months of home detention, on April 17, 2018. The court entered final consent judgments against Little on February 14, 2019 and Berke on February 22, 2019, enjoining each from further violations. Little's disgorgement of $452,998 was deemed satisfied by his forfeiture; Berke's $555,269 was deemed satisfied by forfeiture plus a payment to the Commission. The release mentions no civil penalty. The recorded disgorgement is the sum of the two amounts. 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. 2017-05-11 Litigation release published
2. 2019-02-22 Court enters consent final judgments against Little (Feb. 14) and Berke (Feb. 22)

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, final judgments (LR-24409)

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.

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.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.