Hi William,
I was under the same impression at one time. After one of the usual lively discussions that pop up from time to time on the threads, the only thing any of were able to find on inside traders time limitations was this from free edgar:
<Section 16 of the Exchange Act requires that all officers and directors of a company and beneficial owners of more than ten percent of its registered equity securities must file an initial report with the Commission, and with the exchange on which the stock may be listed, showing their holdings of each of the company's equity securities. Thereafter, they must file reports for any month during which there was any change in those holdings. In addition, the law provides that profits obtained by them from purchases and sales or sales and purchases of such equity securities within any six-month period may be recovered by the company or by any security holder on its behalf. This recovery right must be asserted in the appropriate U.S. District Court. Such "insiders" are also prohibited from making short sales of their company's equity securities.>
As I understand it, insiders are not allowed to change positions for 6 months after buying or selling. Basically, they can't sell one week then buy it back at a lower price up to 6 months later or the other way around. If they do, and show a profit, they can be required to pay it back. Other than that, I haven't been able to find any regulations regarding black out periods, although I believe *some* companies have policies to that effect. It's also my understanding that *some* companies have policies about black out periods for news, where they will not comment on anything that may relate to earnings.
SEC rules are an area where my knowledge isn't as deep as I would like. Partly because the SEC home page is a bear to do key work searches on. If you know of any reference points regarding black out periods, I'd appreciate the information.
Regards,
Don |
