Information

In a competitive market, information flows spontaneously through the prices that are communicated by sellers on the goods they offer, with demanders inquiring about the quality of the products. Admittedly, it may happen that there is a shortfall through collusion or abuse of a dominant position that disrupts the relevance of this information, which the competition authority will sanction and rectify ex post. But markets can be affected by structural market failure. This is especially so when there is an information asymmetry. In such a case, the regulation and its permanent conductor, the regulator, will capture the information and circulate it.

Information is crucial, especially in financial markets because financial instruments are themselves information about the economic value of the companies that issue them. The regulator must ensure not only that this information is accurately communicated to the market, but also that it is shared among all market players. This is why all financial regulatory systems provide for the sanction of insider trading, whereby the holder of information that he does not share with others (inside information) uses it to obtain information on the market. Benefit that others do not get.

The texts on market abuse, on breaches or insider trading or on the dissemination of false information on the financial markets are increasingly severe because, in a knowledge economy, information is the material of confidence in the financial industry and banks and ensures the dynamism of the system. This justifies that some have gone so far as to see it as a common good, that is to say a value to which everyone can have access. The movement is even more powerful in the area of ​​health, since information on health products and procedures is now a global good because of the dangers of this beneficial and regulated medical activity.