A Probe on Data Releases Is Revived

Federal law-enforcement authorities have reversed course and revived an insider-trading probe into how media companies transmit government data to investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The decision came after The Wall Street Journal in January disclosed the probe and reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was planning to wind down the investigation because it was having trouble proving wrongdoing. The FBI, which was conducting the probe with the Securities and Exchange Commission, was also frustrated that another agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, hadn't provided data sought by investigators. The CFTC has since agreed to provide both trading data and analysis to further the investigation, according to officials familiar with the probe. Among the media companies under scrutiny are Bloomberg LP, Thomson Reuters and the Dow Jones & Co. unit of News Corp., the leading electronic providers of federal economic data to traders. A number of smaller media operations that cover such data releases have also come under scrutiny. Among the major media firms, the people said, Bloomberg has received the most attention in the probe.