SAC Capital Indicted

The federal government has brought down the hammer. On Thursday, federal authorities unveiled a series of charges against the hedge fund SAC Capital, which is run by billionaire Steven A. Cohen. The charges attempt to take criminal actions by employees and ascribe them to the company itself. Cohen is not specifically linked to any of the insider trading for which his company is charged. The indictment comes a week after the SEC filed civil charges against Cohen for failing to supervise employees who have been accused of insider trading. As The New York Times notes, charges against companies are rare due to the wider effects they can have on the economy and on innocent employees. This indictment could be a damaging blow to SAC, which has seen major investors withdraw cash as the investigations have mounted.