Wife must testify in investigation into possible insider trading involving her husband

An employee of Restoration Hardware must appear before the SEC to give sworn testimony in its investigation into possible insider trading involving her husband, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled today.

In May, Lena Yan, an analyst in the the company’s finance department, had appeared at the SEC’s offices to give testimony in the matter but “refused to answer all substantive questions by improperly invoking two marital-based privileges,” which the SEC’s staff contends lack a legal basis, according to a press release put out June 4.

At a hearing Monday brought about by the SEC to compel her testimony, Yan said she decided to assert her spousal priveleges after her husband, Daniel Hew,  “came home very upset” from his own session with the SEC on April 6. She said she became concerned that the SEC’s attorneys “may have already concluded that her husband illegaly traded in shares of Restoration Hardware prior to the announcement of its acquisition by a private equity firm based on insider information.

She stated in an affidafavit that the “investigation has put a significant amount of straing on my marriage, both emotionally and financially and I do not want to create further stress in our marriage.”

Bay Area News Group blog editor (1223 Posts)