It is only illegal if he buys and does not disclose that he bought.. You should learn the rules of trading from the inside. The one thing I dont think Dean knew was he would have to halt the copany buyback, but DB isnt stupid they let him know.
Then using your reasoning, a CEO or corporate officer should never be able to buy shares because they are always going to have knowledge of events not known by the public.
You can try to twist this into something it isn't all you want. It doesn't change the fact that he is entitled to buy shares just like anyone else as long as he abides by the SEC guidelines for such transactions.
joe, my wife says that you are wrong. company senior management is allowed to buys shares of their own company anytime they like as long as they comply with SEC rules. I don't know your credentials, but I have a lot of confidence in my wife's.