Regulators Open New Insider-Trading Inquiry

A growing business on Wall Street — research firms that pay employees of public companies and others to serve as consultants to investors — is coming under scrutiny. The New York AG’s office has begun examining whether employees of companies including Best Buy may have divulged material nonpublic information in consulting arrangements like these with hedge funds and other investors. Separately, the SEC is working on several investigations to see if hedge funds have received nonpublic information due to these research firms. Here’s the story from today’s WSJ.