This is like knowing that Warren Buffer is going to say good thing about Microsoft tomorrow, and buying it today as a result (expecting it to rise). Is that actually illegal?
Trading on the basis of material non-public price-sensitive information or tipping someone off so they trade is market abuse (ie illegal) in Europe. In the US, the rules are a little more complex but basically yes it is illegal (if that's what he did).
You absolutely don't have to have fiduciary responsibility, and you don't have to be an official insider, you simply have to trade on the basis of material non-public price-sensitive information in a product that's covered by the regulations or give that price-sensitive information to someone else in the form of a tip (with some expectation in the US of benefitting iirc).
> Dirks v. SEC, 463 U.S. 646 (1983) was a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding this type of insider trading. In Dirks, the Court held that a prosecutor could charge tip recipients with insider trading liability if the recipient had reason to believe that the information’s disclosure violated another’s fiduciary duty and if the recipient personally gained from acting upon the information. Dirks also created the constructive insider rule, which treats individuals working with a corporation on a professional basis as insiders if they come into contact with non-public information.
My understanding is that it very much depends upon how the information was obtained. If I, as a third party, overhear Warren talking in a restaurant, that’s very different from hearing it during a Berkshire board meeting.
Of course, everything, everywhere, is securities fraud. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-26/everyt...
What if he overheard Buffet practicing his speech and bought it - would that be illegal?
If he were to tweet "I Joe Bloggs heard Buffett saying he is about to say something good about Microsoft" and then buy a few seconds later, would that be public information?
When does public information change from being private information to being public information nobody has noticed?
> Beginning at least in August 2021 and continuing through May 2022, ISHAN WAHI was a member of a private Coinbase messaging channel reserved for a small number of Coinbase employees with direct involvement in the Coinbase asset listing process. The private channel was used to discuss, among other things, “exact announcement / launch dates + timelines” that Coinbase did not wish to share with all of its employees.
Source: Countless of SOX-mandatory insider trading trainings and falling under rules covering restricted traiding windows at US listed companies.
Unless you’re in the US Congress as there is an exception for their legislative insider info.
There are people who mirror the disclosures of trades from Pelosi and others. But by then it’s not possible to realize all the gains.
1) Do the alledged facts meet the legal requirements for the crimes charged?
2) Are the alledged facts true?
A trial is focused on question 2. A jury is called on to make a determination of the facts of the case, they will be instructed on what is/isn't illegal and not expected to make any decision regarding questions of law.
Question 1 can be answered in summary judgment before you ever call a jury.
Question 1 can also be answered through the appeals process long after a guilty verdict is given.