Track Data CEO Charged With Insider Trading

Track Data (TRAC Quote) said Barry Hertz, the company's chairman and CEO, has been charged with insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As part of a brief statement issued by Track Data, Hertz's attorneys said, "We do not believe that Mr. Hertz violated any insider trading rules. The interpretation of those rules by the staff of the SEC in this matter has no basis under existing laws or under any reasonable extension of those laws."

The SEC notified Hertz in April 2004 that its staff was recommending bringing an enforcement action. Shares of Track Data, a New York-based financial services company, were up 15 cents to $2.38.

In its complaint against Hertz, the SEC alleged he violated securities laws by insider trading in Track Data stock and by tipping relatives while he had material, nonpublic information about a planned dividend for stockholders, as well as knowledge of the company's negative financial results before a public announcement of its numbers for the second and third quarters of 2003.