Abstract
This article reports findings from a national empirical study of insider trading in Australia. The study is based upon in-depth interviews conducted with almost one hundred key actors involved in the Australian securities industry. The interviews were conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra and involved stock exchange officials, brokers, merchant bankers, lawyers in large law firms, various other financial advisers and observers as well as national, state and territory corporate regulatory officials. Although it was not the intention of this study to seek to quantify the extent of insider trading, something which is probably not possible to achieve, it was found that as insider trading was seen by most observers to be commonplace in Australia, this was likely to be a good indicator of its extent. This research also found mat insider trading tended to be more prevalent in certain situations, such as in takeovers and in closely held corporations, and that it was more likely to occur amongst particular groups involved in the Australian securities industry.
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