The Nacchio Trial Begins

Cite this Article
Thomas A. Lambert, The Nacchio Trial Begins, Truth on the Market (March 20, 2007), https://truthonthemarket.com/2007/03/20/the-nacchio-trial-begins/

The insider trading trial of former Qwest CEO Joseph Naccio began yesterday. I’ve posted a couple of times (here and here) on Nacchio’s innovative defense, which the WSJ labeled a “black box” defense. (Basically, Nacchio is arguing that his sales of Qwest stock could not have been based on material non-public information that Qwest was doing poorly because he also had non-public information that Qwest was likely to procure some lucrative government contracts.)

TheRacetotheBottom.org, which describes itself as “a pro-SOX blog,” is covering the trial. Based on the blog’s name and description, I’m guessing its authors’ views on insider trading are somewhat different than my own. In any event, the bloggers are providing an interesting play-by-play.