Vague Insider-Trading Rules Increase SEC Power
"For decades, the SEC has kept the insider-trading rules vague and undefined. This ambiguity increases the SEC's power and allows government lawyers to pick and choose among prosecution targets. Some, though by no means all, trading on the basis of informational advantage is and should be illegal. But the government should be compelled to provide clear guidance as to what constitutes illegal insider trading and what constitutes legitimate, albeit aggressive, research."
~Yale Law School Professor Jonathan Macey in the WSJ
4 Comments:
Clear, fair, and transparent.
Should be the same for building and zoning permits, that are highly political. But those are easy compared to trading regulations, I should think.
There is a saying that NASCAR's rule book is written in pencil because teams cheat so often and are constantly looking for new ways to skirt the rule book. Seems to me the SEC is copying from a successful private sector industry.
If you spell everything out clearly, someone will measure the newer and thicker rulebook against the old one and say there are too many rules now :-)
This is typical in modern society. Bureaucrats looking to protect turf and increase power make sure that the rules are vague.
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