According to WSMV, Rutherford County Attorney James Cope stepped down from the Pinnacle Bank board on April 1st because of insider trading allegations.
Cope, of the Law Firm Cope-Hudson-Reed and McCreary in Downtown Murfreesboro serves as County Attorney for Rutherford County and has done so since 1983. In addition, Cope serves as general counsel for the Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, the fifth largest electric cooperative in the United States with over 200,000 members, Consolidated Utility District, Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport Authority, and the Murfreesboro Housing Authority. Â Cope also served as attorney for the City of Smyrna, Tennessee, from 1980 to 1995.
Federal documents indicate Rutherford County Attorney James Cope bought stock in a rival bank that Pinnacle was about to acquire. Cope resigned suddenly from the Pinnacle Bank board on April 1.
According to a document filed by Pinnacle with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Pinnacle was negotiating to acquire its rival, Avenue Bank. The board was made aware of the negotiations beginning in December. Cope sat in on the meetings. In early January, just a few weeks before the deal was made public, Cope bought 10,179 shares of Avenue Bank. Cope paid about $13.55 a share. The day the deal went through, his stock was worth about $19.29 per share, a roughly 42 percent increase.
Channel 4 asked Rutherford County Executive Ernest Burgess whether this would affect Copeâs position as the county attorney. He said no action or comment of judgment is appropriate and there is no evidence of investigation of any wrongful act.
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