What is Inside Information?

A prominent Fund Manager was recently quoted as saying that he has the mobile phone numbers of most of the CEO's and CFO's his fund is invested in.
I seems strange that the question of inside information has not yet received more scrutiny by regulators as well as the media and industry representatives.
One has to assume that any conversation would lead to at least SOME bit of new information about the business progress these companies are experiencing. This information is by definition not available to the rest of the shareholders, large ones as well as individuals. So it is clear that this state of affairs makes a mockery of the idea of a level-playing field for all investors. Oddly enough fund managers seem to boast of - and expect - access to senior managers. And one has to assume that they are not just discussing the weekend's sportive events.
Even more astounding is the long-established practice that so-called 'sell-side' firms, aka as stock brokers, are the self-appointed gatekeepers and allocate access to company managements to their favoured stock broking clients thus introducing another murky element into the situation.
(1 April 2016)

FSA clamps down on insider dealing - or does it?

In recent days the FSA, the British Financial Services Authority, has conducted a series of well-publicised arrests of market professionals suspected of illegal insider trading. This may well be seen as an indication that the authorities have a firm grip on insider dealing but we would caution that clamping down on this practice is far from easy. Small players trading for their personal account may well be netted by increased supervision but the really big fish in the pond are institutions, especially hedge funds, that can easily mask insider trades among the multitude of trades they conduct on a daily basis.