No, the laws on insider dealing apply to purchases by the company in the same way as to purchases by individuals. The company must not, therefore, purchase its own shares when the directors have price sensitive information that is not generally known.
To comply with Stock Exchange rules, public companies should not purchase their own shares during the 'close period' (usually two months) before interim or final results are announced. They can do so, however, in connection with an employee share scheme.
