Internalizing Outsider Trading

Investing in the United States has become a hobby for many. Individual ownership of equity, moreover, has increased over the past decade due in part to the introduction of internet-based trading. While providing the possibility for greater returns compared with bank savings accounts, among other investment alternatives, the public capital markets also pose greater risks for investors. Many individual investors lack both the resources and the incentive to analyze the value of any particular security in the market.

Such investors thus trade at a systematic disadvantage relative to more informed parties. In response, regulators have asserted that certain informational disparities cause uninformed investors to lose confidence in the market, thereby justifying stringent regulation. This Article analyzes the impact of information advantages in the market and proposes a unified approach to regulating such advantages.