To me, it seems more like hubris and overconfidence that things...

To me, it seems more like hubris and overconfidence that things would pan out, more so than "insider trading". I think I have read the "continued strong revenue growth" in just about every A2M HY and FY report up until that point, so that does not sound out of kilter with the "business as usual" mentality.

If PN was aware of full extent of the inventory issues at the time, this would imply that the company already had the capability to monitor the reseller channel inventories, which evidently they did not. They wouldn't have gotten themselves in this mess if they had, and that is PN's main failing.

It was primarily PN's responsibility to develop those systems and understand what was needed for visibility. He also bears a lot of responsibility for the corporate daigou incentive strategy which did not achieve its result due to the underlying inventory issue not having been resolved. Listening to the Feb conference call, he was the one fielding questions on these matters and at that point, in my eyes, he put his personal credibility and reputation on the line.

Perhaps it is true that he was not pushed out, but I think he would have seen the writing on the wall. Given how things have panned out, it's a little ironic that this time last year everyone (myself included) wanted/expected to see PN appointed as the next CEO. However I'm happy with the Bortolussi appointment so far - seems he is addressing these issues head on.

BTW it might interest some to know that PN is still the largest insider shareholder in A2M. I seem to recall he currently holds 1.2 million shares. A tranch of his 420,000 options converted in September when the SP was ~$16-17. A further 800,000 were converted in March at ~$9-10. Cold comfort for some but at least his paper profits have dwindled as a direct result of his performance. Hearn is the next biggest holder with 1M shares.