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The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged former Bank of America banker Jason Satsky and his friend Gavin Wolfe with insider trading. The SEC insider trading case concerns trading before South Jersey Industries announced its $8.1 billion sale in February 2022.
The complaint names Satsky and Wolfe as defendants and eight entities linked to Wolfe as relief defendants.
The SEC claims Satsky shared confidential deal information with Wolfe while advising South Jersey on the proposed takeover. Wolfe then bought more than 2.2 million shares and earned about $18.5 million, according to the regulator. It also claims Wolfe passed the information to other traders, who made roughly $515,000.
The SEC filed its complaint on August 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case carries docket number 1:26-cv-07132. It charged both men under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The filing identifies Satsky as the co-head of an energy and utility banking group in New York.
He also served as lead banker on the South Jersey transaction. The SEC describes Satsky and Wolfe as former Wall Street investment bankers with a business relationship spanning more than two decades.
According to the SEC, Wolfe purchased the shares through several family-controlled entities during November and December 2021. Those purchases cost about $53 million. South Jersey later announced that Infrastructure Investments Fund would acquire the company for $36 per share. The stock climbed about 40% after the announcement, leaving Wolfe with an alleged 36% return.
The complaint traces several contacts between the two men before Wolfe began buying shares. South Jersey’s chief executive contacted Satsky in September 2021 to retain his bank for a possible sale, according to the complaint.
Satsky and Wolfe attended a Duke-Kentucky basketball game with their wives at Madison Square Garden on November 9, 2021. The SEC says Bank of America supplied Satsky’s luxury-box seats.
Shortly after the game, Wolfe created a calendar entry containing “SJi and njr,” the ticker symbols for South Jersey Industries and New Jersey Resources. The regulator also cites phone calls, text messages and a long relationship between the men.
Wolfe later purchased South Jersey shares across eight entities that the SEC names as relief defendants. The SEC also alleges Wolfe tipped other people whose trades produced about $515,000 in profits.
Satsky and Wolfe dispute the SEC’s claims. Satsky is 59, while Wolfe is 55. Robert Anello, Satsky’s lawyer, said his client “strongly denies the SEC’s allegations.” He said Satsky never gave Wolfe or anyone else material nonpublic information about South Jersey. Reed Brodsky, Wolfe’s lawyer, said Wolfe “categorically denies the allegations” and will contest the case. He said Wolfe relied on an “independent investment thesis.”
The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and officer-and-director bars against both men. It also seeks disgorgement and prejudgment interest from Wolfe, plus a conduct-based injunction against Satsky. Bank of America terminated Satsky in March 2025, according to the SEC.
The bank confirmed he no longer works there. Regulators have not accused Bank of America of wrongdoing. The allegations remain unproven unless the court establishes liability. The case continues.
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