Federal Securities Law: Insider Trading


 

Publication Date: January 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Economics

Type:

Abstract:

Insider trading in securities may occur when a person in possession of material nonpublic information about a company trades in the company's securities and makes a profit or avoids a loss. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Insider Trading Sanctions Act of 1984 have provisions which forbid insider trading. One provision of the 1934 Act requires the disgorgement of short-swing profits by named insiders. The 1934 Act's general antifraud provision has been used many times to sanction insider trading. In addition, in 1984 Congress enacted legislation imposing up to treble damages upon one who engages in insider trading.