What is insider trading? Two finance experts explain why it matters to everyone

Photo caption: Financier Ivan Boesky was the real-life inspiration for Gordon Gekko of ‘Wall Street.’ Photo credit:  Yves Gellie / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images. Article by Alexander Kurov and Marketa Wolfe. The Conversation – May 8, 2023.

Insider trading is the term used to describe the illegal act in which someone relies on market-moving, nonpublic information to decide whether to buy or sell a financial asset. For example, say you work as an executive at a company that plans to make an acquisition. If it’s not public, that would count as inside information. It becomes a crime if you either tell a friend about it – and that person then buys or sells a financial asset using that information – or if you make a trade yourself. […]

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