Stock market efficiency, insider dealing and market abuse: The UK experience

It is only recently that market abuse, of which insider dealing is a form, has been unlawful in the UK. The general impression is that insider dealing is common, that the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the main regulator, is aware of this but is unable, except in the most obvious of cases, to prosecute at the criminal level. The picture is less clear for other forms of market abuse and the evidence as to their frequency of occurrence is conflicting. As a result we are unable to assess the extent to which these go unchecked.