Saying buybacks were illegal is not accurate. What changed in the 80’s is that a safe harbor was created. Before that companies were at risk of being charged

Saying buybacks were illegal is not accurate. What changed in the 80’s is that a safe harbor was created. Before that companies were at risk of being charged with market manipulation - there were no clear rules on what was market manipulation and what wasn’t. The safe harbor rule 10b-18 simply laid out requirements for buybacks fell into a “safe harbor”, presumed to not be market manipulation. But companies could still do them before that, but it was more risky.