BELGIUM PLANS TO OUTLAW INSIDER TRADING

  A Belgian finance ministry spokesman
  said new rules planned on insider trading would enable
  offenders to be fined and imprisoned for up to a year, and be
  compelled to forfeit gains.
      The new rules require parliamentary approval, and
  government sources said it was unclear when they would come
  into force. Insider trading is currently not an offence in this
  country.
      The cabinet approved a separate bill that analysts said
  includes provisions to make more difficult the build-up of
  major new stakes in Belgian companies.
      The bill would make obligatory the declaration of major
  stakes in companies quoted on the bourse with own resources of
  more than 200 mln francs.
      The Minister for Economic Affairs would need to be informed
  in advance of deals under which foreign interests planned to
  buy a new stake of more than ten pct of the voting shares in a
  large Belgian company, or to increase an existing stake to more
  than 20 pct.
  

