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Do Corporate Insiders Circumvent Insider Trading Regulations? The Case of Stock Repurchases

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  • Pettit, R Richardson
  • Ma, Yulong
  • He, Jia

Abstract

We use calculated values of standardized abnormal insider trading activity to investigate for patterns of unusual insider activity around fixed-price and Dutch auction repurchase announcements. Firms are classified according to whether the repurchase is signaling information about future cash flows, about the distribution of excess free cash flows, or about management's attempts to maintain control in the presence of a takeover. We find below normal levels of sales well before the event and above normal levels of sales after the event. This tendency is strongest for fixed-price offers and for firms' conveying information about future cash flows, and is absent for firms involved in takeovers. No evidence exists of abnormal levels of purchases before or after the event. We interpret the evidence as consistent with insiders successfully circumventing policies and regulations designed to prevent the exploitation of private information by timing the pattern of their security sales. Copyright 1996 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Suggested Citation

  • Pettit, R Richardson & Ma, Yulong & He, Jia, 1996. "Do Corporate Insiders Circumvent Insider Trading Regulations? The Case of Stock Repurchases," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 81-96, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:7:y:1996:i:1:p:81-96
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    Cited by:

    1. Henock Louis & Amy X. Sun & Hal White, 2010. "Insider Trading after Repurchase Tender Offer Announcements: Timing versus Informed Trading," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 301-322, March.
    2. Ota, Koji & Lau, David, 2021. "Share repurchases on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Trading Network," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Fei Leng & Kevin Zhao, 2014. "Insider trading around open-market share repurchases," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 38(3), pages 461-491, July.
    4. Griffin, Paul A. & Zhu, Ning, 2010. "Accounting rules? Stock buybacks and stock options: Additional evidence," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17.
    5. Yin-Hua Yeh & Pei-Gi Shu & Ya-Wei Yang, 2016. "How Insiders’ Personal Incentives and Timeliness of Information Revelation are Related to Their Sales Timing," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(02), pages 1-26, June.
    6. Dimitris Andriosopoulos & Chrysovalantis Gaganis & Fotios Pasiouras, 2016. "Prediction of open market share repurchases and portfolio returns: evidence from France, Germany and the UK," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 387-416, February.
    7. Ryu, Doojin & Yang, Heejin & Yu, Jinyoung, 2022. "Insider trading and information asymmetry: Evidence from the Korea Exchange," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    8. Ma, Yulong & Sun, Huey-Lian & Tang, Alex P., 2009. "Do insiders have inside tracks: An examination of Wall Street Journal's Inside Track columns?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 520-530, June.

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