United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. regulation of financial securities and transactions
Questions tagged [sec]
43 questions
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2 answers
Can Trump legally sell stocks on Friday, tweet about imposing tariffs on Sunday and then buy more of the stocks back on Monday?
Trump could have made a lot of money by selling stocks before tweeting about imposing tariffs on China and then buying more of them back when the price of the stocks has dropped. Would this fall under the ban on insider trading, or does insider…
Count Iblis
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10
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2 answers
Would it be illegal for Donald Trump to short twitter, then leave the platform?
Presumably if Trump were to stop tweeting and move to a different social media platform (e.g., Instagram), Twitter's value would decrease significantly (source estimating Trump's value to Twitter).
Would it be illegal for him to short Twitter stock…
YPCrumble
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6
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1 answer
Would a poker buyin share voucher be a "security"?
Hello I am trying to learn more about securities and really confused by the laws regarding unregistered securities in the US. NJ state if that helps too. I made a scenario and I am needing help to understand if this would be legal or not.
In online…
user3000992
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5
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1 answer
Is it legal for a stock broker to restrict trading on a specific stock?
Brokers like Robinhood are restricting purchases of GameStop stock driving the price down. Is this market manipulation and against the law? Or does the SEC permit this? You can find an article talking about this here,
Robinhood blocks new purchases…
Evan Carroll
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5
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1 answer
Are websites like r/WSB illegal due to market manipulaion?
Note: I am not invested in HTZ or GME. This is not investment advice and is in no way to be construed as investment advice.
Websites like r/wallstreetbets can cause herd investments in various stocks.
This is not unique to WSB and also exists…
jason m
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5
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1 answer
Hypothetical: Is a fully disclosed pyramid scheme legal?
I see that hypotheticals don't typically go over to well on this SE site but I'll give this a shot.
EDIT: I originally posted as 'Ponzi' but I meant 'pyramid'
Was talking with a friend tonight about a hypothetical situation and the implications of…
Albert Renshaw
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4
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3 answers
Duty to disclose to shareholder vs. confidential information
I was talking with friends about Apple switching from Intel CPUs to their own, and an interesting question popped up.
Since we're not privy to any of the details, this is purely speculative and out of curiosity.
Apple has been a customer of Intel…
Thomas
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4
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1 answer
Does the "general public" include business entities?
Specifically regarding securities laws in the United States, there is often terminology that says:
... must not be marketed to the general public...
The definition of "marketed" I understand and believe it has more to do with financial security…
Eric
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4
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2 answers
How was the $200,000 minimum income for accredited investors decided?
The SEC has a rule that restricts the definition of an accredited investor to a person who has income in excess of $200,000.
(6) Any natural person who had an individual income in excess of
$200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint…
Arie Litovsky
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4
votes
2 answers
If I discover information about a company through personal investigation can I act on it without being guilty of insider trading?
Let's say I'm a skilled PI who has, through detailed investigation followed a paper trail back and discovered that Soylent Green is people! (err..spoiler warning?)
I am now aware of information that is not public knowledge, but I have not 'stolen'…
dsollen
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3
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1 answer
What is the "penalty" for placing fake orders of Treasury bonds?
I did ask this question to TreasuryDirect, but received no answer.
Most weeks the U.S. Government issues Treasury bond products, for terms as short as four weeks. You receive the face value but pay less than the face value. The price is determined…
Clint Eastwood
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3
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0 answers
Familial exemption for investment advisor
My parents have asked me to trade for them and they offered me a fraction of any profit. My plan is to set up a limited trade agreement and then manage the account's trades.
Before doing so, I want make sure that I will not be in violation of any…
Speckles
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2
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1 answer
Is the Howey test pertaining to the source of profits or the receiving of profits?
The Howey test states:
"investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others"
Is this "profits to be derived from the efforts of others" pertaining to the source of the money…
user3000992
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2
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2 answers
Does non-objectively justifiable optimism constitute insider trading?
As a hypothetical:
Company A is a competitor of Company B. Management of Company A thinks that Company A is so much better than Company B that Company B will soon go out of business. After getting approval from all major stakeholders of Company A,…
user48064
2
votes
1 answer
Is it still insider trading if from the outside with no breach of trust?
SEC Rule 10B5-1 prohibits:
the purchase or sale of a security of any issuer, on the basis of
material nonpublic information about that security or issuer, in
breach of a duty of trust or confidence that is owed directly,
indirectly, or…
nellapizza
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