Securities Services Act, 2004 (Act No. 36 of 2004)Chapter VIII : Market AbuseOffences73. Insider trading |
(1)
(a) | An insider who knows that he or she has inside information and who deals directly or indirectly or through an agent for his or her own account in the securities listed on a regulated market to which the inside information relates or which are likely to be affected by it commits an offence. |
(b) | An insider is, despite paragraph (a), not guilty of any offence contemplated in that paragraph if such insider proves on a balance of probabilities that he or she— |
(i) | was acting in pursuit of the completion of an affected transaction as defined in section 440A of the Companies Act; |
(ii) | only became an insider after he or she had given the instruction to deal to an authorised user and the instruction was not changed in any manner after he or she became an insider. |
(2)
(b) | An insider who knows that he or she has inside information and who deals, directly or indirectly, for any other person in the securities listed on a regulated market to which the inside information relates or which are likely to be affected by it commits an offence. |
(b) | An insider is, despite paragraph (a), not guilty of any offence contemplated in that paragraph if such insider proves on a balance of probabilities that he or she— |
(i) | is an authorised user and was acting on specific instructions from a client, save where the inside information was disclosed to him or her by that client; |
(ii) | was acting on behalf of a public sector body in pursuit of monetary policy, policies in respect of exchange rates, the management of public debt or external exchange reserves; or |
(iii) | was acting in pursuit of the completion of an affected transaction as defined in section 440A of the Companies Act; |
(iv) | only became an insider after he or she had given the instruction to deal to an authorised user and the instruction was not changed in any manner after he or she became an insider. |
(3)
(a) | An insider who knows that he or she has inside information and who discloses the inside information to another person commits an offence. |
(b) | An insider is, despite paragraph (a), not guilty of the offence contemplated in that paragraph if such insider proves on a balance of probabilities that he or she disclosed the inside information because it was necessary to do so for the purpose of the proper performance of the functions of his or her employment, office or profession in circumstances unrelated to dealing in any security listed on a regulated market and that he or she at the same time disclosed that the information was inside information. |
(4) | An insider who knows that he or she has inside information and who encourages or causes another person to deal or discourages or stops another person from dealing in the securities listed on a regulated market to which the inside information relates or which are likely to be affected by it commits an offence. |