Corporate Insider Trading in Saudi Arabia - A Comparative Analysis with the United States

Abstract

This dissertation examines the present regulations of corporate insider trading in the United States and Saudi Arabia and whether the two laws are doctrinally and practically similar or different. It also focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the Saudi Arabian corporate insider trading regulations by comparing them with the U.S. regulations. This dissertation includes both descriptive and comparative analysis of the two countries’ regulations. First, it describes and explains the regulations in the United States and Saudi Arabia. This dissertation then compares them focusing on the similarities and differences arising from the legal outcome of applying each country’s regulations to a hypothetical case. The findings show that both countries’ regulations share relatively similar regulations. However, there is some divergence between the two countries’ regulations regarding the justification of the law and the reach of the regulations. The findings of this dissertation imply that the Saudi Arabian regulations are somewhat uncertain and ambiguous compared to the U.S. regulations. Therefore, this dissertation proposes recommendations to reform Saudi Arabian corporate insider trading regulations that benefit from the U.S. regulations, so they are more certain for all parties.