The Investment Company Institute (ICI) has sent a letter to the Securities an Exchange Commission (SEC) to strengthen corporate reporting on insider trading. This would entail an amendment to Form 8-K as proposed by SEC.

The letter was written to Jonathan Katz, secretary of the SEC. It is signed by Greg Tyle, general counsel for the ICI. The institute feels since its members invest approximately $4 trillion a year on behalf of individual investors that it has a vested interest in the discussion.

The ICI agrees with the SEC that the following information is required:

• transactions in company equity securities on the part of directors and executive officers,
• the purchase or sale of company equity securities on the part of executives to satisfy affirmative defense conditions,
• and loans of money to executives made or guaranteed by the company or an affiliate of the company.

With regards to the loans, the ICI feels that this is important information about additional compensation of which investors are generally not aware.

"Such information can be important for several reasons. First, it can provide useful insight on management’s views of the company's performance and prospects. It also can provide an indication of the extent to which managements' interests are aligned with those of the company," writes Tyle.

"For all of these reasons, information about insider transactions can be important in helping the marketplace to establish the appropriate value of publicly traded securities," he added.

For the full text of the letter, you can follow this link. 

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