Two reports on insider dealing are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions by the Irish Stock Exchange.

The exchange's annual report on insider dealing for 2000, laid before the Oireachtas yesterday, showed four written complaints were investigated but not referred to the DPP.

In total, the Stock Exchange carried out 12 separate investigations of 11 listed companies. Two investigations involved one company. At the end of the year, nine of those investigations were still ongoing, three were dropped and two reports were being prepared for the DPP.

The head of one listed company is before the courts on insider dealing charges.

A second case against a large financial institution is also due to come before the courts.

In the last 10 years no one has been fined or imprisoned for insider dealing in the Republic.

"We have had no successful prosecutions to date," Mr Brian Healy, director of trading and regulations with the Stock Exchange, said.

Insider dealing involves people profiting by buying or selling shares using "inside" information about a company that is not generally available to the investing public.

Those convicted of the offence face a possible 12-month prison sentence and/or a £1,000 (#1,270) fine on summary conviction in a District Court, or a possible £200,000 fine, or 10 years in prison on indictment in a higher court.

The annual report gives no details of those against whom complaints were made during the year, or how investigations were progressing.

There have been calls for changes to the legislation to allow more information to be published.

"The Act tells us the exact format in which we should report and we do so accordingly," Mr Healy said. "We have issues with the nature of that report and we have raised some of these with the Minister, to amend the original legislation - which will allow us to report more information."

Last year Mr Noel Treacy, the Minister of State for Science, Technology and Commerce, said changes were about to be made and his Department was looking into what additional information should be disclosed in these reports.

This year his Department made a similar statement saying it "had been examining the possibility of requiring additional information on instances of insider dealing offences to be made available".