The first essay explores relations between political affiliations and illegal insider trading. Assessing illegal insider trading is challenging due to the nature of the activity. Researchers observe and evaluate only the detected portion of illegal trading, not all illegal transactions. This presents a problem when using traditional empirical techniques to investigate such activity. In our analysis we employ a bivariate probit model that takes into account the partial observability nature of insider trading and provides estimates for the determinants of both the commission and the detection of illegal insider trading. Among our findings, most notable is the influence of the SEC’s political structure on insider trading detection. We show that the political party affiliation within the SEC, past indictments by the SEC, and SEC budget play a crucial role in determining current prosecution. Past SEC indictments significantly decrease the likelihood to engage in illegal insider trading as well. Essay two investigates insider trading returns by corporate insiders in light of their firms’ lobbying activities. Lobbying is a channel firms often use to influence regulatory change. Firms also use lobbying to obtain information on upcoming legislative and regulatory changes that are significant to the firms’ future. Establishing and maintaining these political connections provides informational advantage not only to the firms engaged in lobbying but also to the insiders of these firms who receive an opportunity to base their trading decision on this potentially valuable information. Using data on firm lobbying activities, we provide evidence of an informational advantage acquired by corporate insiders of firms that develop these connections with policymakers. We find that insiders of lobbying firms gain additional return of 138 (156) basis points on their buys (sells) trades relative to transactions placed by insiders of firms that are not engaged in lobbying activities. We also document that the role of establishing and fostering lobbying contacts and the amounts spent on lobbying differ with type of insider transactions and length of investment horizons. The focus of the third essay is the impact of actual trading on material non-public information on firms’ securities. Finance and law scholars present theoretical arguments both in favor of and against trading on material non-public information. However, investigating empirically the actual impact of insider trading on the insider’s firm poses significant challenges due to the lack of precision in identifying from publically available data trades that are based on private information. In this study, we utilize Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) indictments of illegal insider trading to examine the impact of illegal insider trading on the firm. We provide evidence suggesting that illegal insider trading increases stock market liquidity for the involved firms. Our results imply that bid-ask spread following transactions based on private information is narrower for long-run windows. However, we also find results implying that informed trading is associated with reduced liquidity, when estimated with Amihud Illiquidity proxy, reflecting price impact of trades based on private information.

by Leung Wai Yuen and Wong Che Keung. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81). / ABSTRACT --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.v / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.x / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xi / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Background --- p.1 / Objective of This Study --- p.5 / Chapter II --- THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STOCK MARKET IN HONG KONG --- p.6 / Development of the Stock Exchange --- p.6 / Performance of the Stock Market --- p.10 / Chapter III --- CURRENT SITUATION OF THE SEHK --- p.14 / Performance in 1994 --- p.14 / Future Development of the SEHK --- p.19 / Chapter IV --- REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT IN HONG KONG --- p.20 / History of Securities Legislation in Hong Kong --- p.20 / Regulatory Hierarchy of the Securities Market in Hong Kong --- p.24 / The Securities and Futures Commission --- p.25 / Mission and Functions of the SFC --- p.25 / Chapter V --- SECURITIES (INSIDER DEALING) ORDINANCE --- p.29 / Definition of Insider Dealing --- p.29 / The Insider Dealing Tribunal --- p.30 / Chapter VI --- SECURITIES (DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST) ORDINANCE --- p.32 / Gist of the Ordinance --- p.32 / Duties of Substantial Shareholders --- p.33 / Disclosure of Directors and Chief Executives --- p.34 / Interests That Can be Disregarded --- p.35 / Penalties for Breaches --- p.36 / Chapter VII --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.37 / Research on Overseas Stock Markets --- p.37 / Watchdog Report by Credit Lyonnais --- p.42 / Chapter VIII --- METHODOLOGY --- p.43 / Data Sampling --- p.43 / Definition of Insider Activities Index --- p.45 / Design of the Study --- p.46 / Chapter IX --- RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS --- p.50 / Industry Type --- p.50 / Company Size --- p.51 / Seasonal Effect --- p.52 / Ownership Concentration --- p.53 / Chapter X --- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.55 / Conclusion --- p.55 / Recommendations for Further Studies --- p.56 / APPENDICE --- p.58 / Appendix 1 --- p.59 / Appendix 2 --- p.63 / Appendix 3 --- p.67 / Appendix 4 --- p.71 / Appendix 5 --- p.73 / Appendix 6 --- p.75 / Appendix 7 --- p.77 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.79

The presence of insider trading in a financial market is detrimental to its functioning. Traders with public information are always at a disadvantage when negotiating with agents in possession of inside information. Thus insider trading should increase risk and should lower participation in financial markets. In this study we investigate a channel through which inside information may be transferred to market participants: social connections based on common education. We hand-collect a novel data set of the educational background of members of the board of directors of Brazilian firms and portfolio managers of stock funds. Board members hold inside information on their firms that is valuable to fund managers. We propose that these agents may engage in active social interactions if they 1) attended the same educational institution, 2) within an overlapping time window, and 3) obtained the same degree. We study if such connections influence fund managers\' portfolio decisions. We find that fund managers tend to place larger bets in companies with which they possess this sort of educational connection. We also find that these connections are economically valuable: managers tend to conduct large purchases of connected stocks prior to large increases in their return, and also tend to sell them prior to downfalls. Finally, we study if market participants view increases in a company\'s connectivity as an increase in its risk. We find that increases in connectivity are followed by increases in expected returns. We also determine that the return of holding a portfolio long in highly connected stocks and short on stocks with few connections cannot be explained by the traditional risk factors. These two results indicate that the market does indeed see connectivity as a form of risk. This is, to our knowledge, the first study of its kind for Brazil. / A presença de insider trading em um mercado financeiro é prejudicial ao seu funcionamento. Investidores com informação pública sempre estão em desvantagem quando negociam com agentes que detêm informação privilegiada. Portanto, insider trading aumenta o risco e diminui a participação em mercados financeiros. Neste estudo nós investigamos um possível canal através do qual a informação interna à firma é potencialmente transferida para participantes do mercado: conexões sociais baseadas em uma educação comum. Nós coletamos manualmente uma base de dados inédita sobre a experiência educacional de dois grupos de agentes: membros do conselho de diretores de empresas brasileiras e gestores de carteiras de fundos de ações. Os membros do conselho possuem informação privilegiada sobre suas firmas que seria valiosa para os gestores de fundos. Nós propomos que esses agentes podem engajar em contato social ativo se eles 1) frequentaram a mesma instituição de ensino, 2) em janelas de tempo sobrepostas e 3) obtiveram o mesmo diploma. A partir daí, estudamos se tais conexões influenciam as decisões de investimento dos gestores de carteiras. Nós descobrimos que gerentes de fundos tendem a alocar posições maiores em companhias com as quais eles possuem esta conexão educacional. Nós também descobrimos que tais conexões são valiosas: gerentes tendem a realizar grandes compras de ações conectadas em antecipação a aumentos em seu retorno e tendem a vender essas ações antes de quedas. Finalmente, nós estudamos se participantes do mercado veem aumentos na conectividade de uma empresa como aumentos no risco da empresa. Nós descobrimos que aumentos na conectividade são seguidos de aumentos no retorno esperado. Nós também encontramos que o retorno de um portfólio comprado em ações de alta conectividade e vendido em ações de baixa conectividade não pode ser explicado pelos fatores de risco tradicionais. Esses dois resultados indicam que o mercado vê a conectividade como uma forma de risco. Este é, ao nosso conhecimento, o primeiro trabalho de seu tipo para o Brasil.

The presence of insider trading in a financial market is detrimental to its functioning. Traders with public information are always at a disadvantage when negotiating with agents in possession of inside information. Thus insider trading should increase risk and should lower participation in financial markets. In this study we investigate a channel through which inside information may be transferred to market participants: social connections based on common education. We hand-collect a novel data set of the educational background of members of the board of directors of Brazilian firms and portfolio managers of stock funds. Board members hold inside information on their firms that is valuable to fund managers. We propose that these agents may engage in active social interactions if they 1) attended the same educational institution, 2) within an overlapping time window, and 3) obtained the same degree. We study if such connections influence fund managers\' portfolio decisions. We find that fund managers tend to place larger bets in companies with which they possess this sort of educational connection. We also find that these connections are economically valuable: managers tend to conduct large purchases of connected stocks prior to large increases in their return, and also tend to sell them prior to downfalls. Finally, we study if market participants view increases in a company\'s connectivity as an increase in its risk. We find that increases in connectivity are followed by increases in expected returns. We also determine that the return of holding a portfolio long in highly connected stocks and short on stocks with few connections cannot be explained by the traditional risk factors. These two results indicate that the market does indeed see connectivity as a form of risk. This is, to our knowledge, the first study of its kind for Brazil. / A presença de insider trading em um mercado financeiro é prejudicial ao seu funcionamento. Investidores com informação pública sempre estão em desvantagem quando negociam com agentes que detêm informação privilegiada. Portanto, insider trading aumenta o risco e diminui a participação em mercados financeiros. Neste estudo nós investigamos um possível canal através do qual a informação interna à firma é potencialmente transferida para participantes do mercado: conexões sociais baseadas em uma educação comum. Nós coletamos manualmente uma base de dados inédita sobre a experiência educacional de dois grupos de agentes: membros do conselho de diretores de empresas brasileiras e gestores de carteiras de fundos de ações. Os membros do conselho possuem informação privilegiada sobre suas firmas que seria valiosa para os gestores de fundos. Nós propomos que esses agentes podem engajar em contato social ativo se eles 1) frequentaram a mesma instituição de ensino, 2) em janelas de tempo sobrepostas e 3) obtiveram o mesmo diploma. A partir daí, estudamos se tais conexões influenciam as decisões de investimento dos gestores de carteiras. Nós descobrimos que gerentes de fundos tendem a alocar posições maiores em companhias com as quais eles possuem esta conexão educacional. Nós também descobrimos que tais conexões são valiosas: gerentes tendem a realizar grandes compras de ações conectadas em antecipação a aumentos em seu retorno e tendem a vender essas ações antes de quedas. Finalmente, nós estudamos se participantes do mercado veem aumentos na conectividade de uma empresa como aumentos no risco da empresa. Nós descobrimos que aumentos na conectividade são seguidos de aumentos no retorno esperado. Nós também encontramos que o retorno de um portfólio comprado em ações de alta conectividade e vendido em ações de baixa conectividade não pode ser explicado pelos fatores de risco tradicionais. Esses dois resultados indicam que o mercado vê a conectividade como uma forma de risco. Este é, ao nosso conhecimento, o primeiro trabalho de seu tipo para o Brasil.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in insider threats within organisations and these have caused massive losses and damages. Due to the fact that email communications are a crucial part of the modern-day working environment, many insider threats exist within organisations’ email infrastructure. It is a well-known fact that employees not only dispatch ‘business-as-usual’ emails, but also emails that are completely unrelated to company business, perhaps even involving malicious activity and unethical behaviour. Such insider threat activities are mostly caused by employees who have legitimate access to their organisation’s resources, servers, and non-public data. However, these same employees abuse their privileges for personal gain or even to inflict malicious damage on the employer. The problem is that the high volume and velocity of email communication make it virtually impossible to minimise the risk of insider threat activities, by using techniques such as filtering and rule-based systems. The research presented in this dissertation suggests strategies to minimise the risk of insider threat via email systems by employing a machine-learning-based approach. This is done by studying and creating categories of malicious behaviours posed by insiders, and mapping these to phrases that would appear in email communications. Furthermore, a large email dataset is classified according to behavioural characteristics of employees. Machine learning algorithms are employed to identify commonly occurring insider threats and to group the occurrences according to insider threat classifications. / Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Computer Science / MSc (Computer Science) / Unrestricted

No description available.

acase@tulane.edu / The relationship between microstructure, efficiency and data frequency give us a new opportunity to test information (e.g. events and news) efficiency assimilation for Mexican ADRs and their underlying Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV) stocks It also allows to corroborate whether in emerging markets, specifically in the Mexican market, insider trading could be present but it may not be necessarily detected by market efficiency tools only. Using a proprietary dataset of Mexican Stock Exchange (Mexican Bolsa) intraday prices for underlying stocks and their respective Type II and III ADRs quoted in NASDAQ, AMEX and New York Stock Exchange, time series analysis related to price dynamics and event studies methodologies were applied. Non-linearity of the prices was tested, finding no statistical evidence of such behavior, which led to conclude linearity in them. Volatility transmission was also analyzed, finding that external shock can impact both markets having a recursive behavior; shocks in Mexican market has an impact also in American Market and vice versa. Using a standard Event Studies methodology we tested for nine different corporate events (dividends, changes in capital structure, acquisitions, mergers, takeovers, spin offs, sell offs, joint ventures and privatizations) and seven different classes of stocks in both markets, looking for parallelism in cumulative abnormal returns, volatility, trade volume and Granger causality. The results are a statistically significant behavior similar in both markets (for both CARs and volatility). The evidence of Granger-causality in ADR / underlying stock was detected in both ways: underlying stocks Granger cause the ADRs and vice versa. The results corroborate a non-arbitrage behavior in both markets and no evidence of insider trading in ADRs / underlying stocks in both markets / 1 / Polux E. Diaz Ruiz

The decisions of the federal government such as new legislation, bills and reforms can have serious implications for the financial markets, especially in terms of corporate profitability and shareholder value. As the overseers of federal agencies, U.S. Senators are arguably the most important participants in these decision making processes, in addition to being the most informed investors in the market. As such, Senators may be able to capitalize on their superior networks and information through stock trading. The portfolios traded on such insider information should generate abnormal returns against the market index. This study conducts an analysis of the abnormal returns on common stock purchases reported by U.S. Senators between 1995 and 2012. This paper recreates congressional buy portfolio using a consistent methodology throughout the entire sample period considered by earlier studies. While the sample size is reduced, the methodology used in this analysis relies on actual transactions dates to maximize accuracy. An analysis of the abnormal returns of the common stock investments of U.S. Senators during the period 1995 – 2012 shows that Senators are generally poor investors: purchases made by senators underperform the market index by approximately 3% a year.

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Objectives: A community dental public health program in Vancouver has been providing clinical hygiene services and oral health counseling to a limited number of high-risk, low income pregnant women for over 20 years. To enable future program decision-making, a program evaluation was undertaken with the following objectives: 1) to describe program, clients, and their oral health needs; 2) to determine whether program activities have been implemented as intended; and 3) to assess program's effectiveness in improving oral health status of clients and in improving their knowledge and behavior in relation to their own health and those of their children. Methods: The evaluation, undertaken by the resident dental hygienist, had two phases. Phase 1: Evaluability assessment, descriptive and process evaluation (retrospective and concurrent chart reviews, semi-structured interviews, appointment monitoring, and field observations). Phase 2: A short- and medium-term outcome evaluation with a convenience sample who attended over a 1-year period. Data, collected by questionnaires, interviews, clinical indices, chart review, field observations, and appointment statistics, was analyzed with a combination of univariate and bivariate analyses. Results: Phase 1: Stakeholders' goals were identified; a logic model and organizational flowchart were developed. Chart review (N=123) revealed mean client age of 27 years; 28% Canadian-born; 48% had other children; 78% were concerned about "bleeding gums"; and 63% had visible tooth decay. 28% of women referred to the program never attended. Unfamiliarity of clients with the dental "experience", language barriers, and clinic operation and time restraints affected implementation of program's activities. Phase 2: Outcomes in clients (N=61) demonstrated significant improvements (P<0.05) in clinical indices, oral health knowledge and tooth brushing skills, and dental care for clients' children. A positive program experience was reported from all the women. However, 79% (48/61) of clients never obtained the "outside" dental services that they needed. Conclusions: Evaluation revealed positive changes, extending into the postnatal period in knowledge, behaviors and clinical outcomes despite language barriers, insufficient resources, and ill-defined program goals. Identified program limitations need to be addressed to further improve outcomes of this promising intervention. Research was partially supported by a grant from the British Columbia Dental Hygienists Association.