Canada world’s insider trading capital, study

HEY, everyone has to be good at something, right? Here at IR Web Report, we’re good at snide remarks about regulators and investor relations practices.

And Canada? Well, according to a study commissioned by Bloomberg News, it has a prescient knack for buying stocks in companies that are about to be acquired.

Looking at 52 Canadian mergers valued at more than C$200 million ($172.6 million) last year, Measuredmarkets Inc. found “aberrant trading patterns” preceded 33 of them.

Now, to put that into context, consider this from Bloomberg:

“The rate of unusual trading found in Canada — 63 percent — was higher than in the U.S., where a Measuredmarkets study last year flagged 41 percent of comparable mergers. The London-based Financial Services Authority said March 7 that insider trading may have preceded almost 25 percent of U.K. merger announcements in 2005.”

As the saying now goes, Canada has a “rocks, trees and insider trading economy.” Much, much more, including lame excuses from regulators, here: `Suspicious’ Trades Precede Most Big Canada Mergers, Study Says

Related:

Do Canada’s Securities Regulators Condone Selective Disclosure?

Regulators in Canada hamper investors’ information access

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