Understanding Insider Trading Reports

This tool helps you organize a watchlist and provides quick links to public resources where you can manually check for legally reported insider trading activity. It does not provide automated alerts or analyze the data for you.

What is Insider Trading?

Insider trading can be legal or illegal.

• Legal Insider Trading: When corporate insiders—officers, directors, and employees—buy and sell stock in their own companies. They must report their trades to the regulatory authorities. This is the type of trading this tool helps you find information on.
• Illegal Insider Trading: Refers to buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the security.

This tool focuses on accessing information related to legal, reported insider trading.

Why Track Reported Insider Trades?

Investors often track reported insider trades for potential insights, though interpretations vary:

• Potential Signals: Significant buying by multiple insiders might suggest confidence in the company's future prospects. Significant selling might sometimes raise concerns, though insiders sell for many reasons (diversification, personal financial needs, etc.) not always related to company outlook.
• Context is Key: It's crucial to consider the context: the size of the trade (relative to their holdings), the insider's role, their past trading patterns, the stock's current valuation, and recent company news.
• Not Definitive: Insider buying is often seen as a more positive signal than selling is negative, but neither is a guaranteed predictor of future stock performance.

Common Filings / Disclosures:

• USA - SEC Form 4: Insiders (officers, directors, >10% owners) must file Form 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to report changes in their beneficial ownership of the company's securities, usually within two business days of the transaction.
• India - SEBI Regulations:
  • Under SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, promoters, directors, key managerial personnel, and other designated persons must disclose their trades.
  • Disclosures under Regulation 7(2) (read with Reg. 6(2)) pertain to continual disclosures of trades by such persons.
  • SAST (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations also involve disclosures for significant shareholding changes, which can include insider activity.

Where to Find Information (Public Sources):

This tool will attempt to link you to these general resources. You will then typically need to search for your specific company/ticker on these platforms.

• USA: The SEC's EDGAR database (www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch) is the primary source for Form 4 and other filings.
• India:
  • SEBI Website: Disclosures under SAST and PIT regulations are often available, though direct search can be complex. (e.g., www.sebi.gov.in for general information and specific disclosure sections).
  • BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange): The "Corporate Filings" or "Corporate Announcements" section (www.bseindia.com). Look for "Insider Trading / SAST" related disclosures.
  • NSE (National Stock Exchange of India): The "Corporate Information" section (www.nseindia.com). Look for "Insider Trading" or "Shareholding Pattern / SAST" disclosures.

Always use official regulatory and exchange websites as your primary sources for this information. The links provided by this tool are for convenience and aim at these public resources.