ABSTRACT
The 1980s were marked by extensive deregulation in the UK financial system especially by the ‘Big Bang’ in 1987 in which many old City trading and control structures were dismantled and market forces allowed to flourish. However, in the early 1990s many problems of corporate governance, insider dealing and financial risks became apparent in the UK and other European financial markets. As a result, the deregulation trend was quickly followed by extensive reregulation in the financial system. More specifically, UK companies and financial institutions (FIs) were subject to many new regulations on insider dealing and on the release and receipt of price-sensitive information (PSI). These new regulations created new threats to the established City system for the self-regulation of private company and financial institution communications and for the avoidance of insider dealing.
