Australian Insiders' Views on Insider Trading

Abstract

There is a serious lack of Australian empirical literature on the effectiveness of insider trading regulations. This is due to the relative lack of relevant trading data compared to counterpart regimes (for example, the United States). Until recently, Australian corporate insiders were not required to disclose their interests in their company to the ASX. In an attempt to fill the literature gap, this article adopts the empirical approach of surveying a large sample of senior corporate insiders regarding their trading motives and attitudes in order to gauge the likely information content of their trades. A significant proportion of respondents indicated a propensity to time their trades based on inside information. The results have major implications for regulatory reform regarding insider trading and disclosure laws.