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insider trading

insider trading

19 6.7
Buying or selling company shares using secret information not available to the public
  • noun
  • /ˈɪnˌsaɪdər ˈtreɪdɪŋ/
translation icon : operaciones con información privilegiada
  • The charges against you include felony fraud, industrial espionage, obstruction of justice, insider trading.
  • corporate insider trading
  • insider trading under Rule
  • insider trading cases

There are no insider trading rules for anything except stocks.

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Examples

  • She was charged with insider trading for using confidential information to benefit her stock investments.

  • While there's no proof of insider trading, many of the big stock sells came ahead of regulatory action or the release of disappointing earnings reports.

  • You could lose your job, end up in jail for insider trading.

  • Can we all have insider trading information, or is that just for a select few?

    Blog text (27)
  • I have been accused of insider trading and require legal representation.

  • The group has expressed some anxiety about the possibility of insider trading.

  • We reach a similar conclusion with respect to insider trading and public offerings of securities.

    Academic text (2016)
  • For example, many of the SEC's losses at trial have been in insider trading cases.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Greater transparency, by reducing the opportunities for insider trading, also adds to the value of an issuer's shares by increasing their liquidity.

    Academic text (2016)
  • The SEC is significantly less likely to prevail against individual defendants and against defendants targeted for insider trading and issuer reporting.

    Academic text (2017)

How Illegal

Ponzi scheme
11 4.3
price-fixing
  • Specialized
6 6.6
insider trading
19 6.7
stockbroking
  • UK
4.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

insider + trade

The compound is compositionally built from 'insider' (a person with privileged information) + 'trading' (buying/selling), so a learner who knows both parts can infer it refers to trading carried out by insiders. However, the crucial legal status (that this practice is illegal) is a pragmatic/legal detail not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so full understanding may require extra world knowledge.

Etymology

Insider trading comes from the simple image of an insider, someone inside a company, using secret information to trade stocks. Because they buy or sell before the public and get an unfair advantage, the phrase now means the 'illegal' use of private company news to make money.