Insiders are trading but not by the rules
"Directors at the majority of Australia's biggest companies are trading shares in breach of Australian Stock Exchange rules and the Corporations Act.... The research was conducted BT Governance Advisory Services.... [D]irectors at 123 of Australia's top 200 companies - or 60 per cent - failed in 2004 to meet ASX listing rules requiring them to notify the market of any changes to their interests within five days.
Nearly half the companies (47 per cent) did not confine directors to nominated windows which allowed them to trade the company's shares, usually after the results and annual meetings. In 23 instances, directors loaded up on shares two months before an upgrade or takeover bid, and in 10 per cent of cases they traded in the "blackout period" between the end of a results period and a results announcement. Many did not seem to be in any hurry notifying the market of changes of interest. In 15 per cent of the 2936 notifications to the market in 2004, directors were up to four years late in providing the information, putting them in clear breach of Section 205G of the Corporations Act, which requires them to do it within 14 days. There were three companies that did not disclose the existence of a share trading policy. In 11 cases, directors were trading shares in breach of their company's stated trading policy.
The head of BT's Governance Advisory Service, Erik Mather, said ... "We do not have a regulatory problem, we have a cultural problem...."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/directors-breaking-share-trading-rules-study-shows/2005/11/11/1131578240207.html
Cultural problem??? Like the rapists who said their culture was their defense?
But he's right. The cultural problem is that the folks at the big end of town continue to believe that the rules don't apply to them, or, if they do, the rules are just so petty and picky that there's no harm in bending them every which way. And he's also right that there is not a regulatory problem. There are rules galore. The problem is no one is enforcing them.
Nearly half the companies (47 per cent) did not confine directors to nominated windows which allowed them to trade the company's shares, usually after the results and annual meetings. In 23 instances, directors loaded up on shares two months before an upgrade or takeover bid, and in 10 per cent of cases they traded in the "blackout period" between the end of a results period and a results announcement. Many did not seem to be in any hurry notifying the market of changes of interest. In 15 per cent of the 2936 notifications to the market in 2004, directors were up to four years late in providing the information, putting them in clear breach of Section 205G of the Corporations Act, which requires them to do it within 14 days. There were three companies that did not disclose the existence of a share trading policy. In 11 cases, directors were trading shares in breach of their company's stated trading policy.
The head of BT's Governance Advisory Service, Erik Mather, said ... "We do not have a regulatory problem, we have a cultural problem...."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/directors-breaking-share-trading-rules-study-shows/2005/11/11/1131578240207.html
Cultural problem??? Like the rapists who said their culture was their defense?
But he's right. The cultural problem is that the folks at the big end of town continue to believe that the rules don't apply to them, or, if they do, the rules are just so petty and picky that there's no harm in bending them every which way. And he's also right that there is not a regulatory problem. There are rules galore. The problem is no one is enforcing them.
posted by Guambat Stew at Monday, November 14, 2005
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