Unity bosses sold stock days before development fees announcement, raising eyebrows
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Unity executives sold thousands of shares in the weeks leading up to last night's hugely controversial announcement it …
  • NeuromancerEnglish
    29•8 months ago

    I am not a lawyer but I’ve worked with stock as part of my compensation for years.

    Typically you have to schedule your sales on a schedule. Say every 6 months I’ll sell on x date.

    Unless legal tells me to change it. It buys or sells on that date. Period. I can’t adjust it on a whim.

    If he’s following a schedule then there would be no violation.

    If he sold ad hoc, it could be a violation.

    • @4am@lemm.eeEnglish
      13•8 months ago

      Could he have timed the announcement around his sales, or would that be something that legal would have to have ensured wasn’t happening?

      If this was ongoing and regular for years then yeah it’s nothing. If there are protections in place to ensure announcements aren’t timed around the schedule then that’s even more nothing (as long as it can be proven that procedure was followed).

      It still seems like a system that can easily be manipulated, but yeah if it’s legal then it’s legal and there really can’t be any punishment regardless of ethics or optics…

      • @Windex007@lemmy.world
        6•8 months ago

        Certain types of scheduled announcements usually have insider trading blackouts associated with them automatically, like quarterly earnings reports.

        But you ABSOLUTELY can time other announcements favourably around your predefined transactions.

      • NeuromancerEnglish
        3•8 months ago

        Damn that’s a good question. I honestly don’t have an answer. I’m not high enough level to that type of validation. Basically I have enough knowledge to insider trade but not enough to influence a decision such as changes in pricing or when something will launch.

        I have windows in much I can sell and have to schedule my sales in those windows six months in advance.

        It’s really stupid since I’m trading small dollar amount. 20k a year give or take but the company I work for takes it seriously.