U.S. regulators have obtained a court order freezing the assets of a Thailand-based trader, saying he reaped $3.2 million in illegal profits after getting a tip ahead of the announcement that a Chinese meat company was buying Smithfield Foods Inc. The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that Badin Rungruangnavarat, 30, may have received the tip from a Facebook friend who once worked for Rungruangnavarat's current employer. Shuanghui International Holdings, China's largest meat processor, said last week it was buying U.S. pork producer Smithfield for $4.7 billion. The agency said the friend is an associate director at a Thai investment bank that was advising a Shuanghui rival, Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, which was also exploring a bid for Smithfield. The SEC said Rungruangnavarat reaped $3.2 million in profits by trading Smithfield "out of the money" call options and single-stock futures in an account at Interactive Brokers LLC shortly before the announcement. "Rungruangnavarat
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