RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An investment banker at Wells Fargo Securities and his longtime friend passed along insider tips on pending company mergers to friends or family members in five states that generated more than $11 million in illicit trading profits, federal regulators said Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said John W. Femenia misused his position to trade in information about four pending mergers involving the firm’s clients before the deals were announced.