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Germany’s New Insider Law: The Empirical Evidence after the First Year

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  • Stotz Olaf

    (Research Institute of Asset Management,Bristol, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

Abstract

This paper investigates insider trading activities in German stocks during the first year following implementation of the new Insider Law on 1 July 2002. It can be observed that insiders act as contrarian investors. They buy stocks after prices have fallen and sell stocks after prices have risen. In general, insider trades are very profitable. A typical stock purchased by an insider yields an abnormal return of almost 3 per cent during the 25 days following the transaction. In contrast, a typical stock that has been sold by insiders achieves an abnormal return of nearly -3 per cent over the same time period. Outsiders who copy the transactions of insiders can achieve nearly the same abnormal returns. Abnormal returns remain substantial even after transaction costs. The results suggest that prices of stocks in which insiders trade do not seem to be semi-strong efficient.

Suggested Citation

  • Stotz Olaf, 2006. "Germany’s New Insider Law: The Empirical Evidence after the First Year," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 7(4), pages 449-462, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:7:y:2006:i:4:p:449-462
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0475.2006.00129.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stanislas Nivelleau de La Brunière & Jean-Come Haye & Paolo Mazza, 2020. "The performance of corporate legal insiders on the French stock market," Post-Print hal-02998232, HAL.
    2. Hussmann, Helge & Fieberg, Christian, 2014. "10 Jahre Directors’ Dealings in Deutschland – Gesetzliche Regelungen, empirische Entwicklung und Forschungsstand," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 68(1), pages 47-64.
    3. repec:bla:germec:v:11:y:2010:i::p:418-440 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:bla:germec:v:11:y:2010:i::p:302-335 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Sebastian Dickgiesser & Christoph Kaserer, 2010. "Market Efficiency Reloaded: Why Insider Trades do not Reveal Exploitable Information," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 11(3), pages 302-335, August.
    6. Stotz, Olaf & Georgi, Dominik, 2012. "A logit model of retail investors' individual trading decisions and their relations to insider trades," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 159-167.
    7. Menkhoff Lukas & Schmeling Maik & Schmidt Ulrich, 2010. "Are All Professional Investors Sophisticated?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 11(4), pages 418-440, December.
    8. Kaspar Dardas & Andre Güttler, 2011. "Are directors’ dealings informative? Evidence from European stock markets," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 25(2), pages 111-148, June.
    9. Nivelleau De La Brunière, Stanislas & Haye, Jean-Come & Mazza, Paolo, 2020. "The performance of corporate legal insiders on the French stock market," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

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