Lawyers from top mergers and acquisitions firms provided tips on some of biggest deals of the last decade to an insider trading ring that made tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits, federal prosecutors said.
2006 set a record for mergers and acquisitions worldwide. Deals totaled $3.79 trillion, 38% higher than in 2005, and 55 of the transactions were valued at more than $10 billion each, according to data from Thomson Financial.…