Notable cases on insider trading

This is the first action the Securities Commission has brought under insider trading laws.

Under the Securities Amendment Act 1988, it played only a minor role in enforcing insider trading rules. Only the listed company or a counter-party to the insider trading could prosecute. Most were settled out of court.

Some of the cases: 1994: Securities Commission report on Regal Salmon showed the wife of managing director Terry Shagin bought shares a week before Salmond Smith Biolab made a takeover offer for Regal. Shagin was aware, but no action was taken.

December 1998: Eric Watson was censured for buying more than two million shares in McCollam Print while negotiating its takeover by Watson's Blue Star Group, including 398,000 shares an hour before the takeover was announced. The commission concluded it was not insider trading, but said such trading did not enhance "the reputation and standing of our market".

1999: Fletcher Challenge acted against Paul Hyslop, who bought 410,000 Fletcher Paper shares before leaking information on a proposed merger between Fletcher Paper and Fletcher Challenge Canada. He made a $40,000 profit. The commission found it was not insider trading.

June 2000: The commission announced former Fletcher chairman Kerry Hoggard broke insider trading laws when he bought 390,000 shares in Fletcher companies in December 1999 on the eve of a major company announcement. Hoggard had resigned and put the $58,790 profit in a trust to reimburse sellers.