Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has dismissed a secretary after an alleged breach of her confidentiality agreement that plunged the New York giant into the centre of an insider trading row.

The controversy stems from a complaint, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)in New York this month, alleging that bond trader Fiore Gallucci “engaged in repeated instances of insider tipping in order to make “illegal profits”.