In August 2008, West Marine (WMAR) founder and chairman, Randy Repass, did what thousands — probably hundreds of thousands — of corporate executives have done before him: he set up a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to cover future transactions in his company's stock. According to an article in the Mercury News, Repass set up what he called a “Rule 10b5-1 Buying Plan” for this purpose.

[Insert sound of car tires screeching here]

Wait, what? Rewind that back. A Rule 10b5-1 Buying Plan? Yes, in a filing with the SEC, Repass, who already owns 28.8 percent of the West Marine shares outstanding, reportedly disclosed that he is setting up a buying plan because he thinks his company's stock is "undervalued and represents an attractive investment opportunity."

Rule 10b5-1 trading plans have been a popular option for corporate executives since their introduction in 2000 as an affirmative defense to potential insider trading charges. Almost without exception, however, these plans are set up to allow executives to sell, not buy, securities at some time in the future. It is worth noting that although purchases are almost never the subject of 10b5-1 plans, the Rule itself does specifically contemplate setting up a plan for the "purchase or sale" of securities. According to this post by Broc Romanek over at TheCorporateCounsel.net blog, securities experts such as Alan Dye tell him that this is not a "first of its kind" for an executive, but it is rare.

I'm new here at Compliance Week but I'm told that there are more than 26,000 readers out there, including a huge number of corporate executives and counsel. So my challenge to you all is this: can you identify another 10b5-1 buying plan? Let us know in the comments section below, and we'll try to find out just how rare these things are.