IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v147y2018i4d10.1007_s10551-016-3391-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Insider Trading 2.0? The Ethics of Information Sales

Author

Listed:
  • James J. Angel

    (Georgetown University)

  • Douglas M. McCabe

    (Georgetown University)

Abstract

The sale of faster access to financial market data has recently generated public controversy. NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has referred to such fast data feeds as “Insider Trading 2.0”. For example, Thomson Reuters sold the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index to computerized trading firms 2 seconds before releasing its data to its other paying clients. This paper explores the ethical issues involved in the sale of such information. Is selling faster access ethically the same as traditional insider trading, which generally involves a breach of fiduciary duty or the use of misappropriated information? Such practices are extremely different from traditional insider trading as there is neither a breach of fiduciary duty nor misappropriation of inside information. The ethical issues are similar to other market segmentation and price discrimination issues, in which different prices are charged to different customers. The ability to price discriminate across segments can actually benefit large segments of the population who may receive lower prices because others, such as the high-speed traders, are paying more. The sale of faster access to information, especially by exchanges, raises additional ethical issues. There may be adverse effects on market quality that must be addressed. The moral distaste for the practice expressed by some stems from the seeming unfairness of a modern market structure that provides advantages to a small group of computerized traders.

Suggested Citation

  • James J. Angel & Douglas M. McCabe, 2018. "Insider Trading 2.0? The Ethics of Information Sales," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 747-760, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:147:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3391-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3391-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3391-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3391-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henry C. Manne, 1985. "Insider Trading and Property Rights in New Information," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 4(3), pages 933-957, Winter.
    2. Aur'elien Alfonsi & Antje Fruth & Alexander Schied, 2007. "Optimal execution strategies in limit order books with general shape functions," Papers 0708.1756, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2010.
    3. Sydney C. Ludvigson, 2004. "Consumer Confidence and Consumer Spending," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(2), pages 29-50, Spring.
    4. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2002. "The World Price of Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 75-108, February.
    5. Keown, Arthur J & Pinkerton, John M, 1981. "Merger Announcements and Insider Trading Activity: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 36(4), pages 855-869, September.
    6. Jean-Pierre Danthine & Serge Moresi, 1998. "Front-Running by Mutual Fund Managers: A Mixed Bag," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 2(1), pages 29-56.
    7. Varian, Hal R, 1985. "Price Discrimination and Social Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 870-875, September.
    8. Glosten, Lawrence R, 1989. "Insider Trading, Liquidity, and the Role of the Monopolist Specialist," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(2), pages 211-235, April.
    9. Seyhun, H. Nejat, 1986. "Insiders' profits, costs of trading, and market efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 189-212, June.
    10. Aurelien Alfonsi & Antje Fruth & Alexander Schied, 2010. "Optimal execution strategies in limit order books with general shape functions," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 143-157.
    11. Cornell, Bradford & Sirri, Erik R, 1992. "The Reaction of Investors and Stock Prices to Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1031-1059, July.
    12. Kurov, Alexander & Sancetta, Alessio & Strasser, Georg & Wolfe, Marketa Halova, 2019. "Price Drift Before U.S. Macroeconomic News: Private Information about Public Announcements?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(1), pages 449-479, February.
    13. Jaffe, Jeffrey F, 1974. "Special Information and Insider Trading," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(3), pages 410-428, July.
    14. Elegido, Juan M., 2011. "The Ethics of Price Discrimination," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 633-660, October.
    15. Michael Goldstein & James J. Angel, 2014. "When Finance Meets Physics: The Impact of the Speed of Light on Financial Markets and Their Regulation," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 271-281, May.
    16. Juan Elegido, 2015. "The Just Price as the Price Obtainable in an Open Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 557-572, September.
    17. Leland, Hayne E, 1992. "Insider Trading: Should It Be Prohibited?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 859-887, August.
    18. Meulbroek, Lisa K, 1992. "An Empirical Analysis of Illegal Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1661-1699, December.
    19. Douglas, Norman S, 1988. "Insider Trading: The Case against the "Victimless Crime" Hypothesis," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 23(2), pages 127-142, May.
    20. Lin, Ji-Chai & Howe, John S, 1990. "Insider Trading in the OTC Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1273-1284, September.
    21. Kyle, Albert S, 1985. "Continuous Auctions and Insider Trading," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1315-1335, November.
    22. James Angel & Douglas McCabe, 2013. "Fairness in Financial Markets: The Case of High Frequency Trading," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(4), pages 585-595, February.
    23. Michael Goldstein & Shengwei Ding & John Hanna & Terrence Hendershott, 2014. "How Slow Is the NBBO? A Comparison with Direct Exchange Feeds," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 313-332, May.
    24. Michael Aitken & Frederick Harris & Shan Ji, 2015. "A Worldwide Examination of Exchange Market Quality: Greater Integrity Increases Market Efficiency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 147-170, November.
    25. Ausubel, Lawrence M, 1990. "Insider Trading in a Rational Expectations Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1022-1041, December.
    26. Demsetz, Harold, 1986. "Corporate Control, Insider Trading, and Rates of Return," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 313-316, May.
    27. Thomas H. McInish & James Upson, 2013. "The Quote Exception Rule: Giving High Frequency Traders an Unintended Advantage," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 42(3), pages 481-501, September.
    28. Michael J. Fishman & Kathleen M. Hagerty, 1992. "Insider Trading and the Efficiency of Stock Prices," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 23(1), pages 106-122, Spring.
    29. James J. Angel & Lawrence E. Harris & Chester S. Spatt, 2015. "Equity Trading in the 21st Century: An Update," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(01), pages 1-39.
    30. Robert Battalio & Shane A. Corwin & Robert Jennings, 2016. "Can Brokers Have It All? On the Relation between Make-Take Fees and Limit Order Execution Quality," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2193-2238, October.
    31. Peter-Jan Engelen & Luc Liedekerke, 2007. "The Ethics of Insider Trading Revisited," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 497-507, September.
    32. Henry G. Manne, 2005. "Insider Trading: Hayek, Virtual Markets, and the Dog that Did Not Bark," ICER Working Papers 07-2005, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    33. Michael Lemmon & Evgenia Portniaguina, 2006. "Consumer Confidence and Asset Prices: Some Empirical Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(4), pages 1499-1529.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bruce W. Klaw & Don Mayer, 2021. "Ethics, Markets, and the Legalization of Insider Trading," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 55-70, January.
    2. Peter Seele & Claus Dierksmeier & Reto Hofstetter & Mario D. Schultz, 2021. "Mapping the Ethicality of Algorithmic Pricing: A Review of Dynamic and Personalized Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 697-719, May.
    3. Alex Frino & Ognjen Kovačević & Vito Mollica & Robert I. Webb, 2020. "The sensitivity of trading to the cost of information," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(10), pages 1631-1644, October.
    4. Xihan Xiong & Zhipeng Wang & Tianxiang Cui & William Knottenbelt & Michael Huth, 2023. "Market Misconduct in Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Analysis, Regulatory Challenges and Policy Implications," Papers 2311.17715, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    5. Millicent Chang & John Gould & Yuyun Huang & Sirimon Treepongkaruna & Joey Wenling Yang, 2022. "Insider trading and the algorithmic trading environment," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 725-750, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arturo Bris, 2005. "Do Insider Trading Laws Work?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 11(3), pages 267-312, June.
    2. Michael Firth & T. Y. Leung & Oliver M. Rui, 2011. "Insider Trading in Hong Kong: Tests of Stock Returns and Trading Frequency," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(03), pages 505-533.
    3. Luke M. Bennett & Wei Hu, 2023. "Filtration enlargement‐based time series forecast in view of insider trading," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 112-140, February.
    4. Michael R. King, 2009. "Prebid Run‐Ups Ahead of Canadian Takeovers: How Big Is the Problem?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(4), pages 699-726, December.
    5. Ryu, Doojin & Yang, Heejin & Yu, Jinyoung, 2022. "Insider trading and information asymmetry: Evidence from the Korea Exchange," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    6. Wisniewski, Tomasz P., 2004. "Reexamination of the link between insider trading and price efficiency," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 209-228, June.
    7. Agrawal, Anup & Nasser, Tareque, 2012. "Insider trading in takeover targets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 598-625.
    8. Ian Tonks, 2010. "Discussion of To Trade or Not To Trade: The Strategic Trading of Insiders around News Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3‐4), pages 408-421, April.
    9. Wisniewski, Tomasz P. & Bohl, Martin T., 2005. "The Information Content of Registered Insider Trading Under Lax Law Enforcement," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 169-185, June.
    10. Palan, Stefan & Stöckl, Thomas, 2017. "When chasing the offender hurts the victim: The case of insider legislation," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 104-129.
    11. A. Can Inci & Biao Lu & H. Nejat Seyhun, 2010. "Intraday Behavior of Stock Prices and Trades around Insider Trading," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 323-363, March.
    12. Millicent Chang & Xiaolin Qian & Jing Yu & Yvonne See, 2017. "Does director trading change the information environment?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(2), pages 205-229, May.
    13. Alex Frino & Stephen Satchell & Brad Wong & Hui Zheng, 2013. "How much does an Illegal Insider Trade?," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 241-263, June.
    14. Tong, Wilson H.S. & Zhang, Shaojun & Zhu, Yanjian, 2013. "Trading on inside information: Evidence from the share-structure reform in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1422-1436.
    15. Brenner, Steffen, 2011. "On the irrelevance of insider trading for managerial compensation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 293-303, February.
    16. Tirapat, Sunti & Visaltanachoti, Nuttawat, 2013. "Opportunistic insider trading," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1046-1061.
    17. Ojah, Kalu & Muhanji, Stella & Kodongo, Odongo, 2020. "Insider trading laws and price informativeness in emerging stock markets: The South African case," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    18. Paolo Bizzozero & Raphael Flepp & Egon Franck, 2017. " Insider trading and price efficiency: Evidence from a betting exchange," Working Papers 368, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    19. Estrada, Javier, 1994. "Insider trading: regulation, securities markets, and welfare under risk neutrality," UC3M Working papers. Economics 2922, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    20. Stefan Palan & Thomas Stöckl, 2014. "When chasing the offender hurts the victim: Collateral damage from insider legislation," Working Paper Series, Social and Economic Sciences 2014-03, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Karl-Franzens-University Graz.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:147:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3391-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.