The Routine Executive Stock Sales That Raise Questions of Insider Trading

A WSJ analysis of preset trading plans by company insiders shows that executives benefit when sales happen quickly after the plans’ adoption. Academics and the SEC say some corporate insiders might be using nonpublic information to game the system.

Verity Director of Research Ben Silverman told WSJ that trading on the day the plans were adopted “totally defeats the idea behind [preset] plans. I’m not saying these executives had non-material public information,” he said, “but it’s a loophole.”