Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Business Crimes BulletinFeaturesRegulationWhite Collar Crime

Government Looking Into Insider Trading By Tipping Block Trades

By Michael Miller and Daniel Podair
June 01, 2022

As Congress struggles to determine whether it will finally pass a law defining insider trading, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have trained their sights on an ever-widening array of insider trading practices and theories. Recent cases have focused on the purchase and sale of material non-public information on the dark web and the use of a variation of traditional insider trading called "shadow trading." The government is now investigating whether financial institutions have engaged in insider trading by tipping some of their clients about large, market-moving "block trades" in securities that the financial institutions are scheduled to handle for other clients. This article discusses how the government might frame insider trading cases based on allegations of tipping before the execution of block trades in securities.

Block Trading Explained

A block trade in securities is a transaction involving either more than 10,000 shares or shares worth at least $200,000. See, 17 CFR §242.600(b)(12); NYSE Information Memorandum Number 14-06 (Feb. 25, 2014). Because block trades are large, these trades may be "market moving." To minimize the market impact, a shareholder trading a large block of stock will often conceal its role in the block trade by running it through a financial institution. Block trading is big business for the financial institutions who handle these transactions. According to data from Dealogic, in 2021, broker-dealers executed more than $70 billion of block trades in the United States. See, Gillian Tan, Katherine Burton, Sridhar Natarajan, "What Block Trades Are and Why the SEC's Investigating," Bloomberg (Feb. 16, 2022).

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls Image

With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.