Bill: Vote Insider Trading Deterrence Act

[EATB]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT

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A BILL TO

AMEND THE CRIMINAL CODE ACT TO STRENGTHEN INSIDER TRADING PUNISHMENTS

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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:
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PART I — PRELIMINARIES

1. Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Insider Trading Deterrence Act’

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

(3) This Act has been authored by Representative EATB.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by President of the Senate Talion77.

(5) This Act amends the following acts:
(a) Criminal Code Act

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) The current penalty of up to 200 Penalty Units and 10 minutes of imprisonment is an insufficient deterrent against insider trading, as the potential financial gains from exploiting non-public information can far exceed the maximum fine.

(2) Market fairness and investor confidence are critical to the growth of Redmont’s stock market, and individuals who exploit privileged or leaked information must face proportional consequences.

(3) Increasing the maximum penalty units, extending potential prison time, and introducing mandatory disgorgement of illicit profits will align the punishment with the severity of this white-collar crime.

(4) Adding a potential suspension of stock trading privileges prevents repeat offenders from continuing to manipulate the market.

PART II — AMENDMENTS TO THE CRIMINAL CODE ACT
Amendments to Insider Trading Offence
(1) Part V, Section 3 of the Criminal Code Act shall be amended as follows:

"3 - Insider Trading
Offence Type: Indictable
Penalty: Up to 200 Penalty Units; up to 10 minutes imprisonment Up to 500 Penalty Units; up to 60 minutes imprisonment; and up to a 2-month suspension of securities trading privileges
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) buys or sells a stock based on non-public information that would substantially impact a trader’s decision to buy or sell that stock; or
(b) uses non-public information obtained through privileged access for personal gain in the purchase or sale of a stock; or
(c) leaks non-public information, which would substantially impact a trader's decision to buy or sell a stock, for personal gain or with the knowledge it will be used for such; or
(d) partakes in insider trading by use of non-public information obtained through a leak, knowing it was obtained illicitly or through a breach of confidence.
Relevant Law: Act of Congress - Commercial Standards Act"

 

[Julia_]

AYE - We must be harsh on insider trading.

 

[Incarnation__]

ABS - I had this exact same internal debate when I amended the CCA’s fines in my first rep term, but the ultimate reason I didn’t just make it an extremely high number is because if you are caught, any profits you made from the scheme would be taken regardless and slapping too big of a fine on top of it could put them in financial disrepair. Normally this is fine because you just rely on the Courts to give a fair ruling but since then, I realized another problem.

This could be extremely, extremely problematic with the new Bankruptcy Act because citizens who have to pay such extreme fines will become bankrupt, and if a large sum goes to the government for criminal fines, people who the bankrupt player would also owe money to will receive less or nothing. This is extremely likely if a player is insider trading as it implies they have roots in the economic field.

This might sound crazy but it might be time we consider removing the fines for these monetary crimes and instead use jail time to disincentivize it. This is because if the monetary crime causes damages, the victims can get it back in civil court and that would work better with the Bankruptcy Act (to my interpretation). If there are no victims to seek damages, then it is okay in my opinion to not senselessly crush them with fines which could cause problems elsewhere.

Also imma be so honest with you, I know like 8 different possible examples of insider trading within the TSE since I joined the server 3 months ago. At this point, if we ever go for anyone, it will clearly be a targeted prosecution aiming to damage that individual.

TLDR
After a certain point, monetary fines might cause more harm than good.