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Insider trading ban passes Senate

jamesrage

jamesrage

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This is some good news.

Insider trading ban passes Senate | Politics Blog | an SFGate.com blog
The so-called STOCK Act to ban insider trading by members of Congress, their staff and some administration officials, and speed up reporting of stock trades, passed the Senate 96-3 today and is on its way to President Obama’s signature.

The legislation was triggered by a 60-Minutes television report that focused on stock trades in VISA by House minority leader Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul. Pelosi vigorously and credibly denied that she used her position to influence the trades.
Showing that she can be a master of spin, Pelosi managed to transform herself from the subject of an unflattering hit piece to champion of Congressional reform, first by confronting the 60-Minutes report and then by embracing the reform legislation, and blaming Republicans for trying to water it down.
The other irony is of course that Congress was never exempt from insider trading rules to begin with. Securities and Exchange Commission officials successfully persuaded Congress not to create a separate law for Congress, but to clarify the existing ban and speed up disclosures of stock trades. Currently members have to report annually, which makes insider-trading cases impossible to prove or even detect; the new legislation requires 30-day disclosure on a public and searchable web database. SEC officials said instant disclosure would be far preferable, but members objected to the paperwork burden.
 
Well thank god. This should of been made law sense the beginning of time...
 
jamesrage said:
This is some good news.

Insider trading ban passes Senate | Politics Blog | an SFGate.com blog
The so-called STOCK Act to ban insider trading by members of Congress, their staff and some administration officials, and speed up reporting of stock trades, passed the Senate 96-3 today and is on its way to President Obama’s signature.

The legislation was triggered by a 60-Minutes television report that focused on stock trades in VISA by House minority leader Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul. Pelosi vigorously and credibly denied that she used her position to influence the trades.
Showing that she can be a master of spin, Pelosi managed to transform herself from the subject of an unflattering hit piece to champion of Congressional reform, first by confronting the 60-Minutes report and then by embracing the reform legislation, and blaming Republicans for trying to water it down.
The other irony is of course that Congress was never exempt from insider trading rules to begin with. Securities and Exchange Commission officials successfully persuaded Congress not to create a separate law for Congress, but to clarify the existing ban and speed up disclosures of stock trades. Currently members have to report annually, which makes insider-trading cases impossible to prove or even detect; the new legislation requires 30-day disclosure on a public and searchable web database. SEC officials said instant disclosure would be far preferable, but members objected to the paperwork burden.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is very good news. I'm anxious to see that public/searchable online database. This is going to crimp their style. The better solution would be that any member of congress (and certain others) is required to have their assets managed from a blind trust, but this is definitely an improvement over once-a-year reporting.
 
Taking bets on massive loopholes put in place so they can continue as usual.
 
Correct me if I am wrong here... but isn't there already laws on the books for insider trading? Does the senate really feel it needs to pass a law of its members not to break the law?

What is a gigantic waste of time for the..... zew zew zew zew the daily double.
 
00timh said:
Correct me if I am wrong here... but isn't there already laws on the books for insider trading? Does the senate really feel it needs to pass a law of its members not to break the law?

What is a gigantic waste of time for the..... zew zew zew zew the daily double.
Click to expand...


Obviously the current law didn't apply to Pelosi and others who have engaged in insider trading.
Pelosi aide calls '60 Minutes' report a 'smear'

"There is no law that says a congressman can't go into the cloakroom, hear some information that is about to have an important impact on a company and then, before it becomes public, go right to his stockbroker and trade," Ziobrowski said. "It is a tremendous temptation."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/14/MNIV1LUUBG.DTL#ixzz1pxx9lEOq
 
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