Caught in the net
With the growth of social networks and electronic trading systems, it’s easier now than ever before to trip over insider trading prohibitions
If you don't get caught, breaking the law can pay quite nicely-especially the offence of insider trading. Consider the case of William Bint. As the indexes of publicly traded oil companies were stretching toward their May 2008 peaks, he bought 38,000 shares of Canadian Quantum Energy Corporation at just under 30 cents per share. At the close of trading that Friday afternoon-just after he'd bought his shares-Quantum issued a press release disclosing the acquisition of a prospective natural gas property in Quebec.
