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SEC v. Wei Duan (insider trading, 2020)

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 April 2020 the SEC settled an administrative proceeding with Wei Duan, a Momo Inc. vice president, over insider trading in Momo securities. He agreed to pay disgorgement of about $60,005 and an equal civil penalty.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency SEC
Release number 3-19778
Date filed 2020-04-30
Date resolved 2020-04-30
Status settled
Asset class equities
Venue Nasdaq
Criminal parallel No
Defendants Wei Duan (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
$60k
Disgorgement
$60k
Prejudgment interest
—
Total relief
$120k
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 Securities and Exchange Commission instituted and settled the proceeding on April 30, 2020 (Securities Act release 10778, Exchange Act release 88781, file 3-19778).

The order finds Duan, a Chinese citizen and Momo's vice president of corporate development, traded in Momo securities on material nonpublic information. He neither admitted nor denied the findings.

The order requires disgorgement of $60,005.27 and a civil penalty of $60,005. The earlier record showed disgorgement of $60,006 and no penalty.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

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. 2020-04-30 Administrative proceeding instituted (cease-and-desist)

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.

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.