Pelosi drops opposition to ban on Congressional stock trading
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Should members of Congress be allowed to trade stocks? That debate has been playing out on Capitol Hill over the last several weeks after news of Nancy Pelosi's (and her husband's) large bets on the equity market. The House speaker purchased millions of dollars in call options focused on tech and media names, like Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) and Disney (NYSE:DIS), though she is now taking a 180-degree turn on the issue following building momentum in both parties.
Flashback: Pelosi defended the trades in early December, saying the U.S. was a "free market economy" and lawmakers "should be able to participate in that." Her position then softened in January, saying, "I'm okay with that," if lawmakers want to tighten restrictions on trading. Now, Pelosi is moving to limit stock trading on Capitol Hill, greenlighted a plan and a bill that could move "pretty soon." Pressure mounts on U.S. House speaker Pelosi over stock trades
Members of Congress have a lot of privileged and classified information that could move stock prices (think back to the beginning of the pandemic), as well as financial incentives from companies that routinely lobby Congress. Those decisions could also play a role in how much a given stock is worth, and Congress sought to counteract that in 2012 by passing a bill known as the STOCK Act. While the legislation requires lawmakers to disclose trades within 45 days, many say it doesn't do enough to prevent insider trading and conflicts of interest.
Current proposals: One idea would ban lawmakers and senior staff from buying and selling individual stocks, while another would institute an outright ban on trading. Meanwhile, a measure proposed by freshman Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) would require stocks to be put into a blind trust within 120 days of the bill being enacted. The legislation, dubbed the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, would apply to all sitting (and incoming) members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children.