Another week, another tab
There’s a particular kind of fatigue that sets in when you open yet another spreadsheet masquerading as an insider list. Multiple sheets, cascading dropdowns, conditional formatting that someone thought was a good idea in 2019 and hasn't worked since. A column called “Date Informed” that contains three formats and one person’s birthday.
It’s always Excel. It’s never good Excel.
A compliance relic from the past
The thinking seems to be that because MAR says you need to keep a list, and Excel exists, the two must go together. This is like assuming fire exits are best managed via Post-it notes. Technically possible. Not ideal in an emergency.
Yet here we are. In 2025. Still treating insider lists like they belong in a GCSE coursework folder. Manual inputs. Forgotten access. One person who “knows how it works” and is off on parental leave.
This is not how grown-ups do compliance
Let’s be clear: if your process for managing inside information involves emailing spreadsheets back and forth, you do not have a process. You have a risk.
Every time an audit hits. Every time the regulator comes knocking. You scroll through version history like it’s an archaeological dig. You search Outlook for “final_final_list_March” and try to remember if Tim with an ‘c’ left the project or not.
Meanwhile, someone, somewhere, still thinks this is fine.
There is a better way, you know
Insider lists should be:
- Structured: No rogue cells. No free-text disasters.
- Timestamped: Proper logs. Real-time updates.
- Shareable: Without accidentally showing everyone’s payroll file.
- Regulator-ready: Instantly. Not after three days of “tidying.”
It’s not radical. It’s the bare minimum.
Because if Excel is your system, chaos is your product
Sure, you could keep suffering in spreadsheets. Or you could try something built for the actual job. Something that doesn’t require pivot table therapy every quarter.
We built InsiderList because we got tired of pretending Excel was good enough. It isn’t.
And frankly, neither are those lists you're still formatting at 11:43pm.
