Bloomberg News, insider trading, and a business partner

Robert Wenzel of the EconomicPolicyJournal.com reports that Bloomberg News, in its reporting on the insider trading investigation by the FBI, may find itself reporting about a business partner, Gerson Lehrman Group.

Wenzel writes, “Speculation continues that a major focus of the current government insider trading centers around ‘expert networks.’ From the start we pointed out that the government was, thus, only one step away from claiming a trader who trades based on information in the WSJ is trading on inside information. Expert networks, when all is said and done, like newspapers and wire services, provide information about industries and companies. It’s as close to news as you can get, without getting ink on your fingers.

“As we have already reported, Bloomberg is in a partnership with the largest of these expert networks, Gerson Lehrman Group.

“It appears that Bloomberg was providing via its partnership pretty much what Gerson was providing on its own. According to a Bloomberg press release:

Through this new partnership, Bloomberg clients will be able to view profiles of select GLG Council Members; request consultations directly with those Council Members; and access news commentary, video, webcasts and teleconferences led by GLG Council Members globally. In addition, Bloomberg and Gerson Lehrman Group will jointly produce seminars and surveys that will be available exclusively to Bloomberg Professional Service users.”

Read more here.