This paper investigates whether insiders use private information in their decision to exercise executive stock options. Consistent with existing research, exercises overall do not yield subsequent abnormal returns. Categorising exercises by the proportion of stock sold at exercise yields a...

In a large sample of shareholder initiated class action lawsuits from 1996 to 2011, we find a significant increase in informed insider option exercises during the class action period compared to the preceding quarter, and we find that this change is positively related to the probability of...

This paper presents a factual update of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation for Switzerland. Overall, there has been substantial progress in implementing Financial Sector Assessment Program recommendations in various...

In reaction to the recent financial crisis, increased attention has recently been given to financial transaction taxes (FTTs) as a means of (1) raising revenue for a variety of possible purposes and/or (2) helping to curb financial market excesses. This paper reviews existing theory and evidence...

__Abstract__ The financial world does not have the best reputation. One of the problems is the perceived lack of integrity of financial markets, which is fuelled by examples of financial misconduct. I argue that with financial data becoming more widely available and constantly improving,...

Despite the insider trading laws and Sarbanes-Oxley, Jesse Fried argues that executives still make billions of dollars of insider trading profits each year by timing their stock sales: requiring advance disclosure of such trades would go far to address this problem.

In 2008, the FASB and the IASB, in collaboration, issued an exposure draft of a conceptual framework for financial reporting. The boards agree that decision-useful information should be the main feature of financial reporting. The boards ignore, however, the fact that information asymmetry,...

This study investigates the endogenous relationship between abnormal insider trading and accrual abuse, and explores whether corporate governance affects this relationship. Our results suggest that insiders take advantage of private information on abnormal accruals to time their trading and...

We investigate whether senior officers use accrual-based earnings management to meet voluntary earnings disclosure (i.e., management earnings forecasts) before selling or buying their own shares when they have private information. This study is the first to use the differences in timing of...

This paper examines the hypothesis that the timing of lockup expiration is crucial to earnings management (EM) behavior in the period after an initial public offering (IPO). Taiwan's unique two-stage lockup regulations make the Taiwanese sample an excellent candidate for examining this...