Insider trading serious problem for ASIC: Gillham
The fact that insider trading still exists in such a technologically advanced society is a serious problem for the public and regulators, according to Wealth Within chief analyst Dale Gillham (pictured).
Gillham’s comments came days after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released its Supervision of Market Participants report (January to June 2011), which found there were 23,494 trading alerts during the reporting period, with 121 matters requiring further consideration.
Of those, 17 matters involved potential insider trading and six involved market manipulation, according to ASIC.
“We continually see ASIC working hard to prosecute suspected cases of insider trading involving investments in listed Australian companies, but the reality is that very few cases ever make it to court due to lack of evidence,” Gillham said.
“This is a serious problem in our market and one I believe most people are largely unaware even exists because very few cases ever appear in the headlines for legal reasons,” he added.
Gillham said he believed ASIC should be granted much broader powers of investigation, “and the industry needs to get behind them to help stamp out this practice”.
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