All too often the US Congress seems to confirm voters’ suspicions that the rules don’t apply to their elected leaders. That goes double when it comes to financial matters.
In 2012, after a series of stock-related scandals, Congress passed a law designed to prevent legislators from using their privileged positions to gain an extra edge on the stock market. In theory, the Stock Act would block them from trading based on nonpublic information acquired from their official duties and require them to report their trades within 45 days.
In May, representative Tom Malinowski admitted that he had failed to disclose up to $1m worth of trades in the stocks of medical and tech companies involved in the pandemic response. Even that sizeable admission was minimising things: his total undisclosed trades wereYet Malinowski is hardly alone. In fact, 2020 was a banner year for questionable stock activity.
this makes sense on the surface...