PROFESSOR SARAH WILLIAMS COMMENTS ON POSSIBLE INSIDER TRADING DURING TARIFF TUMULT
April 2025 — Professor Sarah Williams responded to inquiries from the fact checking organization, PolitiFact about allegations of improper trading that followed significant stock market reactions earlier this month to news about the imposition of trading tariffs. In the resulting news item, “Critics Accuse President Donald Trump of Insider Trading; Experts Say That’s a Stretch.” Professor Williams is quoted explaining the concepts of insider trading and market manipulation. She also described private actions that could be filed by people adversely affected in the stock market due to illegal insider trading.
Professor Sarah Williams provided information for the news article by PolitiFact on the topic of illegal insider trading. Delivering additional context for reported allegations of improper securities trading after announcements regarding trade tariffs, Professor Williams is quoted throughout the article explaining illegal insider trading and the challenges of proving allegations of misconduct in this area. She also described private suits that might be filed by people adversely affected in the stock market because of illegal insider trading. The PolitiFact article shared Professor Williams’ expertise on the topic of market manipulation, including common schemes that allow wrongdoers to benefit from falsely inflated stock prices. Professor Williams teaches in the area of federal securities regulation and recently published a law review article, “Regulating Congressional Insider Treading: The Rotten Egg Approach,” on stock trading by members of Congress.
Professor Sarah Williams is an Associate Professor at Penn State Dickinson Law. Prior to joining Dickinson Law, Professor Williams practiced law as a securities regulator. She was Deputy Director at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Associate General Counsel at NASD (now FINRA), and spent several years as a lawyer at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Professor Williams has authored articles in the areas of auditor regulation and insider trading.