As previously discussed on this blog (click here), enforcement of insider trading laws around the world is on the rise. In the prior post, I pointed out recent enforcement actions in countries including Holland, Colombia, UK, India, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong. In the two months since that post, a host of countries have announced insider trading cases brought under their laws. These include three more cases in Japan, which until recently had reportedly been quite apathetic about the enforcement of insider trading:

October 10, 2008 (Japan): SESC Planning Rare Insider Trading Case Against Former Eneserve Executive

October 14, 2008 (Philippines): 14 Years Later, SEC Insider Trading Investigation Reinstated

October 16, 2008 (Kenya): Insider Trading Prosecution of Former Kenya Commercial Bank Executive Begins Thursday

October 20, 2008 (Canada): AMF's New Focus in Insider Trading Cases Producing Results

October 24, 2008 (Norway): Oslo Police Charge Norway's Largest Bank With Insider Trading in Advance of Bank Rescue Package

November 4, 2008 (Japan): SESC to Pursue Record Penalty of 20 Million Yen in Insider Trading Case

November 12, 2008 (Japan): Former Nomura Securities Employee and Friend Plead Guilty to Insider Trading

November 13, 2008 (UK): Former British Ambassador to Peru Fined for Insider Trading by FSA

November 13, 2008 (Taiwan): Son-in-Law of Former President of Taiwan Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Insider Trading

November 21, 2008 (Trinidad & Tobago): T&T SEC Completes First Ever Formal Insider Trading Investigation

November 24, 2008 (China): China: Securities Enforcement Hotbed!

Not appearing on this list now or anytime soon is Russia, which according to an article today in Russia Today (click here) is among the countries that lack any insider trading laws whatsoever. Russia Today reports, however, that a draft law to change this state of affairs was proposed by Russia's Federal Service for Financial Markets back in the spring of 2006, and will be considered in December this year.

I have mapped out the recent surge in international insider trading cases in the Google Map shown below. Click on the map for a larger, interactive version that also contains links to articles about each case.