SEC v. Yuh-Yue Chen (insider trading, 2019)

Settled

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In April 2019 the SEC charged former Skyworks Solutions engineer Yuh-Yue Chen with buying Skyworks securities before two 2014 earnings announcements after improperly accessing finance-area reports, for profits of at least $739,959. On November 13, 2020 the Central District of California entered a final judgment, agreed by stipulation, ordering a $739,959 civil penalty and an injunction, with the disgorgement claim dismissed.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$740k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$740k

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 Chen improperly entered the accounting and finance area, read non-public reports, bought before the April 22 and July 17, 2014 announcements, and sold for at least $739,959. He allegedly left the country in September 2014 after security found him in the restricted area, and was served on a return visit in March 2019. The complaint asked for an injunction, disgorgement with interest and penalties.

The court docket shows the SEC filed a stipulation for judgment on November 12, 2020 and the court entered the final judgment on November 13, 2020, which closed the civil case. The judgment permanently enjoins Chen from violating the antifraud provisions, orders a civil penalty of $739,959 under the insider trading penalty provision, and dismisses with prejudice the SEC's disgorgement claim after the SEC decided to forgo it. It also provides that, for bankruptcy discharge purposes only, the complaint's allegations are treated as admitted. The text read does not mention any criminal sentence.

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. 2019-04-18 Litigation release published
2. 2020-11-13 Final judgment entered against Yuh-Yue Chen: $739,959 civil penalty

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 Yuh-Yue Chen, 13 November 2020 (CourtListener copy)
• Court docket, SEC v. Yuh-Yue Chen, C.D. Cal. 2:19-cv-02734

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.