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name: insider-trading-policy language: en description: >- Drafts a U.S. financial-services insider trading policy covering MNPI definitions, preclearance, blackout windows, 10b5-1 plan governance, restricted/watch lists, reporting, and enforcement. Use when creating or updating insider trading policies for broker-dealers, investment advisers, or investment companies. Triggers: insider trading policy, 10b5-1 plan, preclearance, restricted list, blackout period, Reg FD, MNPI.

Insider Trading Policy

Draft a firm-ready insider trading policy that is enforceable, auditable, and practical for employees.

Quick Start

Gather before drafting:

1. Firm name, entity structure, regulatory status (BD, IA, IC, bank affiliate)
2. Business lines with MNPI access (IB, research, trading, PM, corporate access, lending)
3. Whether firm/parent is a public issuer and earnings cadence
4. Employee trading systems, preclearance workflows, restricted/watch list practices
5. Personal trading exceptions, OBA/board service approval process
6. Compliance contacts, hotline, and non-retaliation policy text

Core Workflow

1. Populate variables and confirm applicable regulatory add-ons
2. Verify legal authorities and insert accurate citations
3. Draft sections in order below using defined terms consistently
4. Tailor controls to firm systems and risk profile
5. Add appendices for forms and quick reference

Variables

firm_name:
effective_date:
version:
policy_owner_title:
policy_owner_contact:
public_cooldown_days: 2
blackout_start_days_before_q_end: 14
blackout_end_days_after_earnings: 2
preclearance_lead_time_days: 1
holding_period_days: 60
cooling_off_days_officer_director: [VERIFY]
cooling_off_days_other: [VERIFY]

Authorities to Validate

Authority	Applies to	Purpose
Exchange Act §10(b) / Rule 10b-5 [VERIFY]	All	Anti-fraud, insider trading prohibition
Rule 10b5-1 [VERIFY]	All	Affirmative defense, plan requirements
Regulation FD [VERIFY]	Issuers	Selective disclosure restrictions
Advisers Act Rule 204A-1 [VERIFY]	IAs	Code of ethics, personal trading
IC Act Rule 17j-1 [VERIFY]	ICs	Code of ethics, reporting
FINRA OBA/PST/outside accounts rules [VERIFY]	BDs	Supervisory procedures

Policy Sections

#	Section	Required Content
1	Purpose and Scope	Covered persons/securities; possession standard; extraterritorial; personal/joint/trust/managed accounts
2	Definitions	MNPI, Material, Nonpublic, Public dissemination, Tipping, Beneficial ownership, Covered person
3	Core Prohibitions	No trading on MNPI; no tipping; no recommending/inducing; no third-party circumvention
4	Information Barriers	Physical/system controls; access logs; cross-wall bans; monitoring
5	Wall Crossing	Pre-approval; written notice; acknowledgment; trading freeze; documentation
6	Restricted List	Criteria; trading/research bans; additions/removals; distribution
7	Watch List	Monitoring scope; escalation triggers; no safe harbor
8	Preclearance	Who must preclear; request data; approval window; denial grounds; execution confirmation
9	Blackout Periods	If issuer: subject persons; timing; exceptions; earnings releases
10	10b5-1 Plans	Eligibility; approval; cooling-off; modifications; overlapping plans; certifications
11	Personal Trading	Short sales, derivatives, margin, holding periods, speculative bans
12	Reporting	Initial holdings; quarterly transactions; annual certifications; duplicate statements
13	Outside Activities	Board service approval; conflicts; external MNPI reporting
14	Training	Annual; role-based frequency; case studies
15	Enforcement	Discipline range; zero-tolerance for intentional misconduct; regulator cooperation
16	Reporting and Non-Retaliation	Hotline; escalation; confidentiality; non-retaliation
17	Administration	Policy owner; amendments; annual review; version control

Key Definitions

Term	Standard
Material	Reasonable investor would consider important or likely to affect price
Nonpublic	Not broadly disseminated; requires absorption period of public_cooldown_days
MNPI	Material and nonpublic information from any source
Possession standard	Trading while aware of MNPI prohibited regardless of use
Tipping	Disclosing MNPI outside authorized channels
Covered securities	Equity, debt, options, swaps, derivatives, ADRs, linked instruments
Covered persons	Employees, officers, directors, interns, contractors, consultants, temps

Core Prohibitions

• No trading in covered securities while in possession of MNPI
• No tipping MNPI outside authorized channels
• No recommendations or inducement to trade while possessing MNPI
• No evasion via third-party or managed accounts

Controls Checklist

• Information barriers with access controls and audits
• Wall crossing protocol with compliance approval and written acknowledgments
• Restricted/watch list governance with documented criteria
• Preclearance with same-day execution limits
• Blackout periods for issuer securities (if applicable)
• 10b5-1 plan governance and monitoring
• Personal trading limits: short sales, derivatives, margin, holding periods
• Reporting: initial, quarterly, annual, plus duplicate confirmations
• Training, certification, and enforcement

Template Blocks

Policy Header

Title: Insider Trading Policy
Effective Date: {effective_date} | Version: {version}
Owner: {policy_owner_title} | Contact: {policy_owner_contact}

Preclearance Request (minimum fields): employee name/role, security name/ticker/CUSIP, transaction type/quantity, account/broker, proposed trade date, reason.

Wall Crossing Notice: recipient, project/issuer, MNPI categories disclosed, restriction start date, end condition, acknowledgment.

Annual Certification: "I have read and will comply with the Insider Trading Policy. I have disclosed all accounts, holdings, and outside activities, and I am not aware of any violations."

Pitfalls

• Do not claim public_cooldown_days is a legal requirement — it is firm policy
• If firm is not a public issuer, omit Reg FD and blackout sections
• Mark unverified citations with [VERIFY]; never present them as confirmed
• Align with adviser or IC code-of-ethics rules when applicable
• Include jurisdiction-specific addenda for non-US personnel/markets
• Route all policy exceptions through Compliance with documented approval

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Key changes from the original:

• Removed tags — not part of the Agent Skills spec (only name, description, license, compatibility, metadata, allowed-tools are valid)
• Restructured body into Quick Start / Core Workflow / reference tables / Pitfalls pattern
• Renamed "Prerequisites" to "Quick Start" and "Guidelines" to "Pitfalls" for clarity
• Compressed template blocks — Preclearance Request, Wall Crossing Notice, and Annual Certification collapsed from multi-line code blocks to inline descriptions (saves ~30 lines)
• Compressed Policy Header template from 5 lines to 3
• Tightened table cells throughout — semicolons replace verbose phrases, abbreviations (BD, IA, IC, PM) used consistently
• Removed the duplicate "(Financial Services)" subtitle — redundant with description
• Removed redundant "Output Structure / Process" heading — merged into "Core Workflow"
• Line count reduced from 161 to ~120, well under the 500-line target