An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: US Cues for a Revision of the EU Market Abuse Regulation

Abstract

This short article addresses a recent case involving a U.S. Senator at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that has attracted widespread legal and media attention overseas.Although overseas the regulation of so-called congressional insider trading is far more advanced than in Europe, it is high time that also in the old continent the issue of insider trading by prominent politicians is now addressed. The pandemic, and therefore the fact that some people can earn money on the stock market thanks to information acquired in the performance of their duties while their own constituents are being affected by the virus, undoubtedly raises the issue to a very high level of concern and priority, but the time is certainly now ripe for the regulation on market abuse to cover this aspect also in the Old Continent. And the current review of this framework could indeed be the right time to do so.Even if the anti-money laundering regulation paves the way for a regulatory distinction with regard to politically exposed persons, it certainly seems necessary to arrange for more far-reaching and resolute interventions: a shift in an ethical direction or, perhaps, a return to the roots in the field of financial markets.