Brent Cranmer and Daniel McCormick
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26514 / March 30, 2026
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Brent Cranmer et al., No. 25-cv-6816 (S.D.N.Y. filed Aug. 18, 2025)
SEC Obtains Final Consent Judgments as to Two Southern California Residents Charged with Insider Trading
On March 26, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final consent judgments as to Brent Cranmer and Daniel McCormick in the SEC’s civil enforcement action that charged them with insider trading in the securities of Kaman Corporation.
According to the SEC’s complaint, while Cranmer was working as the head of a Kaman subsidiary, he learned that Kaman was in the process of selling itself. Cranmer allegedly shared material nonpublic information about the prospective transaction with his friend, Jonathan Whitesides, in an effort to coordinate trading in Kaman securities on Cranmer’s behalf. The complaint alleges that Whitesides purchased Kaman call options for himself, and tipped his friend, McCormick, who purchased Kaman stock and call options based on the material nonpublic information. The complaint further alleges that Whitesides and McCormick made combined profits of over a million dollars by trading in advance of Kaman’s acquisition announcement, but no one traded for Cranmer.
Cranmer and McCormick consented to final judgments permanently enjoining them from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Cranmer was also ordered to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $50,000 and is prohibited from acting as an officer or director of a public company for five years. McCormick was ordered liable for disgorgement in the amount of $115,598, which is deemed satisfied by the forfeiture order entered against him in the parallel criminal case United States v. Cranmer, et al., No. 25-cr-00212-MMG (S.D.N.Y. filed May 12, 2025).
The SEC’s litigation was led by Ruth Pinkel and supervised by Stephen Kam of the Los Angeles Regional Office. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Sara Kalin of the Division of Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit, with assistance from John Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center. It was supervised by Assistant Director Diana Tani and Market Abuse Unit Chief Joseph Sansone. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).