Securities and Exchange CommissionJohn Shad said he wanted Congress to write a better definition
of insider trading but thought action should wait until the
Supreme Court ruled on an insider trading case.
    "I'd like the benefit of the Winans decision before
deciding on a definition," Shad told a Senate Appropriations
subcommittee hearing.
    Shad was refering to the appeal by former Wall Street
Journal reporter R. Foster Winans of his conviction on insider
trading charges for telling a friend in advance what stocks he
was going to write about in his column.
    The stocks usually went up or down in price depending on
Winans' recommendation.
    He said insider trading accounted for only 11 percent of
the SEC's enforcement activities last year despite the
publicity given to recent major cases.
    "Insider trading makes up only a tiny fraction of one pct
of the 50 billion dlrs of daily securities trading," Shad said.
    Shad asked for a budget increase so the SEC could enlarge 
its enforcement staff by 20 this year and 73 next year to deal
with all types of securities fraud.
    Shad said he hoped to start his new duties as U.S.
Ambassador to the Netherlands by June. He said he did not know
when his successor would be named by President Reagan.
 Reuter
