Tag: insider trading

Adhering to Dirks, SCOTUS decides Salman v. US

by Cydney Posner In a case decided unanimously today, Salman v. United States, SCOTUS upheld the Ninth Circuit affirmation of Bassam Salman’s conviction for insider trading, “adher[ing] to Dirks, which easily resolves the narrow issue presented here.”

Should insiders be permitted to pledge their company shares?

by Cydney Posner Many company policies prohibit (or severely limit) officers and directors from pledging their company shares against margin loans, and, as discussed in an article in last week’s WSJ, there seems to be good reason for that practice. 

Academic study shows insiders beat the market in the “8-K trading gap”

by Cydney Posner A new study, reported in the WSJ, showed that corporate insiders consistently beat the market in their companies’ shares in the four days preceding 8-K filings, the period that the researchers called the “8-K trading gap.” The study also showed that, when insiders engage in open market purchases […]

Cyberthieves collect confidential information, apparently to conduct insider trading

by Cydney Posner Here is an unnerving warning from FireEye, a cybersecurity firm, discussed in this article from MarketWatch, regarding a sophisticated, native-English-speaking group, designated FIN4, that has targeted almost 100 public companies, primarily healthcare and pharma, to compromise their confidential information. What’s unusual here is that the apparent purpose of […]

Academic study shows increases in insider sales prior to public release of certain SEC comment letters

by Cydney Posner Articles in Compliance Week and Forbes  report on a recent academic study showing unusually high levels of stock sales by insiders in the period prior to public release of SEC comment letters that addressed revenue recognition issues, a topic that can often spell trouble at many companies. The level of […]