Trading on non-public information has been very profitable in the past (and probably still is). Prominent insiders use their knowledge and share it with influential, wealthy institutional investors who earn money in an illegal way. And especially, options provide attractive leverage and relatively viable ways to “hide” sources of this illegal advantage. But after several big scandals, the resurgence of some forms of insider trading was stopped in 2009 after a trial with hedge fund superstar Raj Rajaratnam. The question is: What is the situation now?

Corporate insiders often have insight into a company’s private information, which might help them predict how the shares’ price will move in the coming days. However, laws and regulations are designed to keep them from trading based on this knowledge, as it would be unfair and hurt the company’s other shareholders. This includes the prohibition of insider trading or designing a 10b5-1 plan, which we will discuss in this article. Anyways, knowing about incoming losses or the will to create profits might lead these insiders to different practices that could be questioned. Let’s look at some of the newest research concerning these issues.