Watchdog must clamp down on insider trading

The billboard of China Southern Power Grid. [Photo/IC]

A person related to a former deputy general manager of China Southern Power Grid is suspected of taking advantage of inside information about the State-owned enterprise, having invested in the capricious Chinese stock market for eight years without losing a cent, the national audit authority revealed on Sunday. Comments:

The insider trading went on for eight years without being discovered by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the watchdog that claims to be committed to maintaining good order in the stock market. The commission still has a long way to go to fulfill its responsibilities. The stock market is a zero-sum game, the illegal profits gained by the insider trader are the losses of other legal investors.

Beijing News, June 30

Since the administrative departments largely fail to identify the relatives of the senior managers of SOEs, the China Security Regulatory Commission needs to encourage the people to report suspected insider trading, and award the whistle-blowers some money confiscated from these illegal speculators.

South China Weekly, June 29

Insider trading originates from the power abuses by the senior managers of SOEs, and is a form of corruption. The authority must hold SOE officials to account, or it will be impossible to deal with the fundamental cause of this scourge.

Cnhubei.com, June 29

Insider trading means some participants already know how the cards will be dealt, and the game is no longer fair. This will drive away the sensible investors, leaving only gamblers and illegal speculators. China's economic transformation needs a healthy stock market, but at present that is not the case. The authority should pay more attention to ensuring the rules are adhered to rather than stoking the false prosperity of the market.

Beijing Times, June 29