SiliconBeat

The Securities and Exchange Commission said today it has filed an action to force Oakland resident Lena Yan, an analyst in the finance department at Restoration Hardware, to provide sworn testimony in its investigation into possible insider trading involving her husband in Restoration Hardware stock in November 2007 shortly before news of its acquisition became public.

According to a filing the SEC made today, Yan’s husband, Daniel Hew, traded in Restoration Hardware stock prior to an announcement by the the Corte Madera-based home furnishing retailer Nov. 8, 2007, that it would be acquired by Catterton Partners for $4.50 a share, which represented a more-than 50 percent premium to Restoration’s stock price before the announcement.

The SEC says that Hew “profited significantly” on the “dramatic stock price increase triggered by the announcement. The SEC is investigating “whether, among other things, Lena Yan and others, including her husband Daniel Hew, may have violated the federal securities laws by engaging in fraudulent insider trading in Restoration Hardware stock.”

The investigation has already led to the filing of a civil action against a Restoration Hardware finance vice president Ciriaco “Eric” Rivor, and three stock traders, including the father of a friend who ignored advice to limit the size of their purchases.

Yan appeared for testimony on May 6 but “refused to answer all substantive questions by improperly invoking two marital-based privileges,” which the SEC’s staff contends lack a legal basis.