Shareholders worried about insider trading

Friday 9th June 2000

Insider trading is seen as a problem by 83% of people who own shares, the latest National Business Review-Compaq poll has found.

Of the 31% of people who own shares, 59% rated insider trading as a minor problem and 24% rated it as a major problem.

Five per cent said it was not a problem.

Concern about insider trading ran high in Auckland and Wellington where 33% of share-owners said it was a major problem, compared with 20% in provincial New Zealand and 16% in Christchurch.

Despite the poor performance of the local equities market over the past few years the NBR-Compaq poll also revealed a wide ownership of shares in the general public compared with international levels.

The 31% level of direct share ownership compares with 26% in Canada, 32% in the booming US market and 41% in top-ranked Australia.

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