It turns out the Justice Department and SEC had it right all along.
As the U.S. Supreme Court’s 8-0 Salman v. United States decision shows, “anything of value” really does mean anything of value. While this judicial decision did not come in a FCPA enforcement action, Salman, an insider trading case, shows that if an insider provides a tip to another, it is the same effect as if the insider had used the information. Justice Alito writing for the majority stated, “It is obvious that Maher [the inside tipper] would personally benefit in the situation. But Maher effectively achieved the same result by disclosing the information to Michael, and allowing him to trade on it.” So the simple act of disclosing the insider information can lead to a criminal conviction.
