The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on September 16, 2021, it obtained a final judgment against Birmingham, Alabama resident James Wallace Nall, III, a real estate developer previously charged for engaging in insider trading by tipping others, including a close friend and business associate, in advance of a merger announcement involving Alabama-based snack food company, Golden Enterprises, Inc.

The final judgment, which Nall consented to without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, permanently enjoins Nall from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, orders Nall to pay a $220,625.84 civil penalty, and bars him from serving as an officer or director of a public company.

The SEC previously obtained final judgments against Nall's four co-defendants - Michael Smith, Hale Smith, Robert Smith, and Walter Tutt - in October 2019 pursuant to which each was permanently enjoined from violating the charged antifraud provisions and ordered to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest and a civil penalty for a collective total of more than $900,000. The Commission's Complaint alleged that each of Nall's co-defendants traded and profited in varying amounts with the use of material non-public information which originated from Nall. The entry of the final judgment against Nall marks the conclusion of the SEC's action.

The SEC's litigation was led by Edward G. Sullivan and Robert K. Gordon and supervised by M. Graham Loomis. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jack Westrick and supervised by Matthew McNamara and Justin Jeffries of the SEC's Atlanta Regional Office.