Duty Bound: A Comparison of Insider Trading Law in the United States and the European Union

January 5, 2025  |  The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation

Observers have long commented that insider trading law in the United States is too vague and gives prosecutors too much discretion.  The unlawful nature of insider trading rests on broad anti-fraud provisions of securities laws enacted in the 1930s; the elements of the offense rely almost entirely on decisions of the Supreme Court and interpretations of lower courts since the 1970s.  In sharp contrast, the law in the European Union is based on a specific Market Abuse Regulation which sets out the elements and key definitions governing insider trading in EU countries.  In their recent article for The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation, “Duty Bound: A Comparison of Insider Trading Law in the United States and the European Union,” Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC attorneys Jonathan S. Sack and Christian B. Ronald explore the different approaches of United States and EU insider trading law and how these approaches play out in enforcement actions.  

Duty Bound: A Comparison of Insider Trading Law in the United States and the European Union (pdf | 398.63 KB)