SEC Rule 10b5-1, codified at 17 CFR 240.10b5-1, is a regulation enacted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2000.[1] The SEC states that Rule 10b5-1 was enacted in order to resolve an unsettled issue over the definition of insider trading,[2] which is prohibited by SEC Rule 10b-5.
Different courts of appeals had come to different conclusions about what constituted insider trading under Rule 10b-5 — specifically, whether someone could be held liable for insider trading simply by trading while in possession of inside information, or whether a trier of fact must find that the person actually used that inside information when making the trade.