Commission Regulation (EC) No 2273/2003 regulates the price stabilization activities for equity initial public offerings (IPOs) in Europe as a form of permitted market manipulation. To test the actual practices and effects of stabilization we empirically analyze the support provided by the...

Virtually all IPO prospectuses feature lockup provisions that limit pre-IPO shareholders' share sales for some period of time after negotiations start. The aim of the paper is to analyze in-depth voluntary lockups in the Italian setting and to draw conclusions about their effect both on...

Before deciding on operations involving share issuance or sale, companies or shareholders may seek to disclose information to selected investors, in order to gauge their opinion on the envisaged market operation. Such ‘market soundings' risk violating the prohibition of insider trading and yet...