This was all I could grab from The Wall Street Journal, as it is hidden behind a pay wall:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing whether high-speed trading firms are engaging in insider trading by taking advantage of fast-moving market information unavailable to other investors.
The investigation, launched about a year ago, involves a range of trading activities and is still in its early stages, according to a senior FBI official and an agency spokesman.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Luckily, theverge.com has more on the story:
Two weeks ago, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman expressed concerns about the anti-competitive practices of high-speed stock market trading firms, saying that such companies had "valuable advantages" that gave them a "leg up on the rest of the market." Now The Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI is in the midst of an investigation into whether such high-speed trading firms have access to information that isn't available to other traders.
An FBI spokesperson said the bureau launched its investigation — known as the High-Speed Trading Initiative — a year ago. The investigation is looking for violations of insider trading laws in a variety of trading activities, including whether high-speed traders have access to unfair advantages such as ultra-fast data-feeds, and if they are manipulating the market with floods of purchase and sales orders. The initiative is still in its early stages, but reportedly has a large number of agents involved. "There is a big concern that high frequency traders are getting material nonpublic information ahead of others and trading on it," an FBI spokesperson said. "There are many people in government who are very focused on this and who are concerned about it and who think it breaks the law."
...
Attorney General Schneiderman is also currently probing such high-speed trading firms. The Wall Street Journal says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission too are investigating whether high-speed traders have links with major data exchanges, and are able to get preferential treatment to the detriment of other investors. The FBI is working with both bodies on its investigation, and is seeking leads from other whistleblowing Wall Street workers who may have been involved in illegal trading.
http://www.theverge.com/...
Our own Lefty Coaster had an excellent diary up on Sunday about the possible illegality of high-speed trading, here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
In it, we learn that NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in Washington have both launched investigations. What's new is that the FBI is also on the case.
I'm not so optimistic as to think anyone will go to jail (though they probably should), but perhaps these probes will inch us a bit closer to a society with less staggering wealth inequality.