There are several possible defenses to federal insider trading allegations under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. When facing an SEC investigation, determining what defenses you (or your company) has available requires a critical assessment of the facts involved. Depending on the circumstances, possible defenses range from demonstrating that the alleged NPI was public at the time of the trades at issue to arguing that you were unaware that you received NPI as a tippee.