As I see it, insider trading rules are less about "information asymmetry" and more about avoiding conflicts of interest between the decision-makers in a company

As I see it, insider trading rules are less about "information asymmetry" and more about avoiding conflicts of interest between the decision-makers in a company and the investors they are supposed to be working for. It is a given that not everyone will have exactly the same information—combining all those separate viewpoints to arrive at a single market price is why the market exists. However, the insiders have a duty to their employers—the shareholders—and insider trading puts the insiders' personal profit at odds with the decisions which will best benefit the company. They weren't given access to that information and a position where they can guide the direction of the company for the purpose of enriching themselves at their principals' expense. The difference being: Under this interpretation insider trading is purely a dispute between the shareholders and their hired employees / agents. No one else has any standing.