The new face of insider trading

January 22, 2009 | By Jim Kim

NYSE Regulation referred a record 146 cases of suspected insider trading to the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, reports Reuters. That's five more than in 2007, the previous record year. What's behind the shift? You might think: Hedge funds. But you would be wrong.

Slightly more than half of last year's referrals involved one or more hedge funds, down from 72 percent in 2007, according to the article. What we're seeing now is a return to the good old fashioned networks of friends and family, each trying to do each other favor. A friend indeed.

For more:
- here's the article