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INSIDER INFORMATION - any information related to securities and transactions with them, the disclosure of which may have a significant impact on their market value. INSIDERS are individuals and legal entities with the right to access...

INSIDER INFORMATION - any information related to securities and transactions with them, the disclosure of which may have a significant impact on their market value.

INSIDERS are individuals and legal entities that have the right to access insider information on the basis of a law, job description or other internal document of an issuer (a company issuing securities) or a professional participant in the securities market.

The Russian stock market is not very similar to the classic Western models. Nine-tenths of the trading volume is determined by the quotes of the 15 largest companies, about the state of affairs in which all players know about the same. Such a simple system can work satisfactorily even with patchwork legislation, on one word of honor. But as soon as the market begins to develop and speculators are interested not only in blue chips, but also in the securities of dozens and hundreds of medium-sized companies, serious problems will begin.

The fact is that any employee of the company, from the general director to the lower-level manager, any official, from the Minister of Finance to the small fry in the FCSM, can quite legally share commercial information with a familiar broker - not for free, of course. So it turns out that the value of companies will be determined not by their real success in business, but by the actions of insiders - whoever goes first to the informer wins. A normal market cannot work under such conditions. Perhaps that is why the head of the Federal Securities Commission, Igor Kostikov, commenting on the events of January 27, insistently repeated that it would be possible to actually fight such frauds only after the adoption of the law “On Insider Information”, the draft of which is now in the State Duma Banking Committee.

Particularly interesting in connection with the accusations made by Kostikov against representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development is Article 9 of the bill. It spells out in black and white a sad fact openly voiced by Kostikov: the main insiders in Russia are officials.

With the adoption of the law, those who like to make money on speculative fraud will have problems. The range of sanctions against dishonest officials and employees of companies is quite wide: from minor fines to two years in jail.

Only one question arises: will the ardor of Kostikov and his subordinates fade over time and will the FCSM be able to effectively monitor the use of insider information, promptly dealing with violators? Practice shows that officials in Russia can do almost anything. If they want. From this point of view, the FCSM is a very interested agency: the adoption of the law would significantly expand its powers and give it significant preferences, turning it into an analogue of the special services.

Thus, Article 7 says that issuers of securities (that is, those companies that issue them) are obliged to send any information that falls under the definition of insider information to the FCSM upon request. That is, the FCSM will become just a repository of other people's secrets.

In addition, the FCSM will have the right to arrange, at its own discretion, checks on market participants to look for insider leaven in their actions. Of course, there is a stipulation in the law that if the check fails, all the materials of the case must be immediately destroyed. But who can guarantee that individual officials of the FCSM will not be tempted to violate this instruction and, in turn, share the information received with familiar brokers?

In general, a careful reading of the draft law leads to a simple conclusion: the FCSM will actually receive a monopoly on the possession of insider information. Well, this version of the development of events fits into the new concept of state regulation of the economy. Everything should be under control. Including types of business, balancing on the verge of legality.