Insider trading in securities may occur when a person in possession of material nonpublic information about a company trades in the company's securities and makes a profit or avoids a loss. Federal statutes have provisions that either specifically forbid insider trading or have been interpreted by courts to prohibit insider trading. This report discusses some of the key statutes as well as regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) to implement the statutes. The report also discusses some of the most pertinent court decisions on insider trading. The Securities Act of 1933 (1933 Act) makes it illegal to offer or sell securities to the public unless the securities have been registered with the SEC. A registration statement becomes effective 20 days after it is filed with the Commission, unless it is delayed or suspended. Registration under the 1933 Act covers only the securities actually being offered and only for the purposes of the offering in the registration statement. The registration statement consists of two parts: the prospectus, provided to every purchaser of the securities, and Part II, containing information and exhibits that do not have to be provided to purchasers but are available for inspection. Section 7 of the 1933 Act, referring to Schedule A, sets forth the information that must be contained in the registration statement. This schedule requires a great deal of information, such as the underwriters, the specific type of business, significant shareholders, debt and assets of the company, and opinions as to the legality of the stock issue. Section 10(a) of the 1933 Act specifies the information which the prospectus must contain. There are also numerous regulations issued by the Commission which provide additional details about the registration process under the 1933 Act. Certain transactions and securities are exempted from the registration process. The exempted transactions include private placements, intrastate offerings, and small offerings. Among the exempted securities are government securities, bank securities, and short-term commercial paper; all securities for which it is believed that other, adequate means of government regulation exist. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (1934 Act) is concerned with several different topics, one of which is the ongoing process of required disclosure by covered publicly traded companies to the investing public through the filing of periodic and updated reports with the Commission. Any issuer that has a class of securities traded on a national securities exchange or, in certain circumstances, has total assets exceeding $10 million and a class of equity securities held of record by 2,000 shareholders or 500 shareholders who are not accredited investors must register with the SEC under the 1934 Act. Every issuer required to register under the 1934 Act must also file periodic and other reports with the SEC. Section 12 of the 1934 Act requires the filing of a detailed statement about the company when the company first registers. Section 13, in turn, requires a registered company to file annual and quarterly reports with the SEC. These reports must contain essentially all material information, financial and otherwise, about the company—information that the investing public would need in making an informed decision about whether to invest in the company. Section 14 contains requirements about proxy solicitation. Some exemptions from these reporting requirements are provided. The Commission has issued extensive regulations to specify information that these reports must provide. Failure to disclose material information is actionable. For example, Section 18(a) of the Securities Exchange Act grants an express private right of action to investors who have been injured by reliance upon material misstatements or omissions of facts in reports that have been filed with the SEC. Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act, the general antifraud provision, and Rule 10b-5, issued by the SEC to carry out the statutory fraud prohibition, provide for a cause of action for injuries caused by omissions, misrepresentations, or manipulations of material facts in statements filed with the SEC, as well as in statements other than those filed with the SEC. One provision in the 1934 Act is specifically designed to discourage insiders in the corporation from taking advantage of their inside information in the trading of the corporation's securities. Section 16 of the 1934 Act places sanctions on insiders who use inside information in making short-swing profits. For purposes of this provision, an insider is defined as any "person who is directly or indirectly the beneficial owner of more than 10 percent of any class of any equity security . . . which is registered . . . or who is a director or an officer of the issuer . . . ." Every person who qualifies as an insider under this definition must file a report with the SEC at the time of the security's registration on a national securities exchange or by the effective date of a filed registration statement or within 10 days after he becomes a beneficial owner, director, or officer. If there has been a change in the ownership of the security or if there has been a purchase or sale of a security-based swap agreement involving the equity security, the insider must file the report before the end of the second business day following the day on which the transaction has been executed. To prevent the unfair use of inside information, Section 16(b) permits the company or any security holder to sue on behalf of the company to recover any profit that the person realizes from any purchase and sale or sale and purchase of any equity security of the company within a period of less than six months. Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 are used in most cases of insider trading violations, as well as in other kinds of alleged securities fraud. (Some of the major cases are discussed below.) Although Section 10(b) does not refer to specific types of fraud or specific types of insiders, one of its most frequent applications over the years has been to insider trading. The statute states, in relevant part: It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange . . . (b) To use or employ, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security registered on a national securities exchange or any security not so registered, or any securities-based swap agreement any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance in contravention of such rules and regulations as the Commission may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors. . . . Rule 10b-5, mentioned later along with other SEC regulations that focus more specifically on insider trading, is the general SEC rule used in many securities fraud cases. The rule states: It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails or of any facility of any national securities exchange, (a) To employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud, (b) To make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or (c) To engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security. According to the House report on the bill, the Insider Trading Sanctions Act of 1984 was enacted because: Insider trading threatens . . . markets by undermining the public's expectations of honest and fair securities markets where all participants play by the same rules. This legislation provides increased sanctions against insider trading in order to increase deterrence of violations. "Insider trading" is the term used to refer to trading in the securities markets while in possession of "material" information (generally, information that would be important to an investor in making a decision to buy or sell a security) that is not available to the general public. The 1984 Act provides that, if the Commission believes that any person has bought or sold a security while in possession of material, nonpublic information, the Commission may bring an action in federal district court seeking a civil penalty. The penalty may be up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided. After a number of hearings and considerable debate in the 100 th Congress, President Reagan signed the Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988. This act expanded the scope of civil penalties that may be imposed against officers and directors who fail to take adequate steps to prevent insider trading. Among other things, the 1988 Act also established a private right of action against the inside trader for buyers or sellers of securities who traded contemporaneously with the insider. The STOCK Act, signed into law on April 4, 2012, affirms that insider trading prohibitions apply to Members of Congress, congressional staff, and other federal officials. The STOCK Act also has provisions concerning financial disclosure reporting requirements for legislative and executive branch officials. There are both civil and criminal penalties for insider trading, and the penalties can vary depending on what statutes a trader is found guilty of violating. The 1934 Act sets out the civil penalties for engaging in securities transactions while in possession of material nonpublic information. As mentioned above, the penalty can be up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided. However, willful violations of other provisions, such as Section 10(b), the general antifraud securities provision, may result in other significant penalties, including fines up to $5 million and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years for individuals and fines up to $25 million for businesses. As stated above, SEC Rule 10b-5, which implements Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, is apparently the most frequently used SEC rule in lawsuits that charge violations of insider trading prohibitions. However, other SEC rules, some of which specifically target insider trading, are also important. Rule 10b5-1 prohibits trading "on the basis of" material nonpublic information.