The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged a former J.P. Morgan analyst with insider trading for revealing confidential information regarding company mergers to a friend.

According to the SEC, Ashish Aggarwal, who worked in J.P. Morgan's San Francisco office, tipped a friend, Shahriyar Bolandian, about private information on two acquisition deals. Mr. Aggarwal had learned about the deals from colleagues.

Mr. Bolandian then used this information to trade using his account, as well as that of his father and sister. Mr. Bolandian in turn tipped his friend Kevan Sadigh. Together, they made more than $672,000.

Mr. Bolandian and Mr. Sadigh were charged by the SEC with trading on the insider information. The Justice Department on Tuesday also announced criminal charges against them and Mr. Aggarwal.

A spokesman for Mr. Aggarwal said he denies the charges. The other two men could not be immediately reached for comment.

The insider trading was detected by the SEC using trading data analysis tools.

"We allege that Aggarwal, Bolandian and Sadigh misused an investment bank's confidential information for their personal benefit and victimized the bank, its clients and investors," said Robert Cohen, acting co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's Market Abuse Unit.

Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2015 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more JP Morgan Chase Charts.
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more JP Morgan Chase Charts.