Are any insider trading laws valid?

Reader comment on: Matt Levine on Insider Trading

Submitted by Harry Binswanger (United States), Jan 21, 2016 12:37

Should there be any laws against insider trading? I can't see that there should be (and historically, there weren't--and not until quite recently in Europe). Officers and directors have or should have contractual agreements with shareholders, spelling out what they can and can't do. But why is it any business of the general public? If one person learns more than another, with no theft of documents or fraud involved, why shouldn't he benefit from that?

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