The Tipping Point: Federal Securities Law and the Preservation of Market Integrity

Abstract

This study presents the issues inherent in the existing framework for evaluating alleged insider trading violations and proposes that the United States replace these rules and legal precedents with a statutory provision that both defines and expressly prohibits insider trading on the basis of an equality of access theory. To this end, the paper presents the origins of insider trading law, with particular emphasis on tipper-tippee liability, and ultimately seeks to demonstrate both philosophically and by example that an equality of access standard is more ethically sound and practical from an enforceability standpoint. It is meant to bear stylistic similarities to a law review article, with the goal of providing useful information and guidance for practitioners.