MSU Law Professor’s Op-ed on Insider Trading Published

MSU Law Assistant Professor Kevin Douglas recently challenged the popular understanding of Federal insider trading laws in a studied Opinion-Editorial on Law360.com. Professor Douglas is planning a series of opinion pieces examining the ethics of insider trading law and practice.

“The Prohibition On Insider Trading is Misleading” was published in the October 11, 2023. In introducing his view that insider trading law is misleading, Professor Douglas writes, “Officials describe the law as protecting the property rights shareholders and publicly traded companies have in inside information. In practice, however, these laws criminalize having economic advantages that allow a person to accurately predict changes in stock price. Simultaneously, these laws redefine “fairness” and “fraud” in ways that undermine the protection of property rights.”

Professor Douglas teaches Business Enterprises, Business Ethics, and Mergers and Acquisitions at MSU College of Law. He joined the MSU Law faculty in 2020 after serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Antonin Scalia Law School. Professor Douglas’ research and scholarship focus on how moral principles motivate business organization law and securities regulation. Before becoming a law professor, he was an Associate in a corporate transitions practice group of a law firm in Dallas, Texas. Professor Douglas is a graduate of Stanford Law School. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Management and Master of Business Administration from Florida A&M University.