Normative Logic and Judicial Correction of Insider Trading Regulation from the Perspective of the Equal Information Access Theory

Abstract

The comprehensive registration-based IPO system reform has reshaped the underlying logic of information disclosure and trading supervision in the securities market. As a typical form of securities fraud that un-dermines the foundation of market fairness, the regulatory system for insider trading has long suffered from normative conflicts stemming from the dual intertwining of the fiduciary duty theory and the market fair-ness theory. The Equal Information Access Theory (Equality of Access / Parity of Information Theory) centers on the core value that all market participants shall enjoy equal opportunities to access material non-public information. It can uniformly interpret the unlawful nature of insider trading, the scope of liable subjects, and imputation standards, rendering it a fundamental legal doctrine aligned with China’s orienta-tion of retail investor protection. Taking the Equal Information Access Theory as an analytical tool, this paper sorts out the normative core and comparative law origins of the theory, analyzes the inherent logical contradictions within China’s insider trading regulatory system, summarizes judicial application irregulari-ties based on typical administrative and criminal judgments, and proposes corrective approaches from four dimensions: subject identification, causation, presumption rules, and defense systems. It aims to refine the judicial application rules for insider trading centered on equal information access, so as to strike a balance between the protection of market fairness and the trading vitality of the capital market.