Insider trading enforcement in Australia

Victor Lei

Increased attention is being given to the enforcement of insider trading laws. In this article the authors present the results of an empirical study of the enforcement of Australian insider trading laws since the first enforcement case in 1973. The issues examined by the authors include (a) the extent to which the enforcement of insider trading laws has increased over time; (b) details of the alleged contravention (such as the profit alleged to have been made and whether the alleged contravention was criminal or civil); (c) details of the defendant including the position they held at the time of the alleged contravention; (d) details of the company whose securities were the subject of the alleged insider trading; (e) details of the outcome of the matter (including the penalty imposed when the regulator was successful), and (f) the time taken to complete an insider trading matter. The key findings include that the regulator is bringing more insider trading cases, having greater success, and reducing the time to complete the cases.