The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced insider-trading charges against two Beijing residents on Wednesday, alleging they purchased stock options ahead of Chinese e-commerce company 58.com’s purchase of a $1.6 billion minority stake in rival Ganji.com.

The regulator said a court had granted its SEC request to freeze assets in the U.S. brokerage accounts of Xia Xiaoyu and Hu Yanting.

The...