Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988

(redirected from ITSFEA)
Also found in: Acronyms.

Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988

In the United States, a 1988 law that significantly increased the penalties associated with insider trading and securities fraud. For example, for insider trading, the Act provided for fines of up to three times the profit an offender made as a result of the inside information. It also provided for cash payments to "whistle-blowers" and civil penalties for managers who, knowing that persons working under them are likely to engage in insider trading, fail to act.

Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988

The federal legislation that increased the potential liabilities associated with insider trading and other fraudulent activities. This act provides informers with cash awards, allows individuals who claim damages to file suit, and encourages companies to implement improved internal controls.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

References in periodicals archive ?

Thus, the STOCK Act made explicit what Congress had previously ratified through its enactment of ITSA and ITSFEA.

To the contrary, the legislative developments reflected in ITSA, ITSFEA, and the STOCK Act evidence concerted congressional judgments rendered only after repeated consultations with securities law scholars and practitioners, and more importantly, with the expert agency officials at the SEC.

Along with the O 'Hagan decision, the Exchange Act amendments (in ITSA, ITSFEA, and the STOCK Act), and Regulation FD, the Delaware judiciary's expanded notion of the fiduciary duty of loyalty has an important bearing on insider trading cases involving gratuitous tipping.

1264 (1984); Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988 (ITSFEA), Pub.

Beyond Dirks: gratuitous tipping and insider trading

Thus, for example, Congress explicitly found, in section 2 of the ITSFEA, that the SEC's rules and regulations governing insider trading were "necessary and appropriate," and that the Commission had "enforced such rules and regulations vigorously, effectively, and fairly." (201) Similarly in O'Hagan, the Court both accepted the misappropriation theory proffered by the government as encompassing the necessary deception required by its earlier decisions (202) and upheld the SEC's adoption of Rule 14e-3.

Federal securities fraud litigation as a lawmaking partnership

575, 608 (observing that Congress passed ITSFEA after "fram[ing] insider trading as an issue of immorality and punishment ...

Regulating corporations the American way: why exhaustive rules and just deserts are the mainstay of U.S. corporate governance

Such a program may considerably reduce the possibility that a firm will be found "reckless" and therefore liable under ITSFEA for not being aware of probable employee violations.

An accountant's guide to the SEC's new insider trading regulations

implementation of ITSFEA had a "significant impact" in

Permanently reviving the temporary insider

145, 158 n.57 (1989) (explaining that the ITSFEA's "possession" language "did not mean that [Congress] endorsed a `possession' standard" because "[t]his language had appeared in ITSA and [Congress] simply replicated existing language," and asserting that "this legislation was entirely neutral with respect to the debate over the possession standard").

Insider trading: the "possession versus use" debate

This culminated in the passage of the SEC's legislative proposals in 1984 (ITSA), and in 1988 (ITSFEA).

The SEC Lobbies Congress for the Passage of the ITSFEA of 1988

The SEC sought to restrict insider trading further by asking Congress to pass the ITSFEA, which was enacted on November 19, 1988.(18) The ITSFEA provided for bounties to informers of up to 10% of illegal insider-trading profits.