Executives of public companies often schedule stock sales ahead of time to comply with SEC rules and avoid accusations that they may be trading on nonpublic business data before it is shared with other investors. These 10b5-1 plans, named after the SEC rule that established them in 2002, are commonly used by executives who want to sell some of their shares and diversify their holdings over a set period of time and have no intention of benefiting from inside information about their companies, said Daniel Taylor, an associate professor of accounting at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Source: Washington Post May 13, 2021 14:37 UTC