Kaine, colleagues unveil legislation to ban stock trading by Members of Congress

Americans deserve to know that their representatives in Congress’ top priority are the well-being of their constituents—not their own personal bottom lines. Lawmakers often have advance notice of investigations, hearings, and legislation that can impact stock prices or move markets and can support or enact policy changes that affect specific companies or industries. Members of Congress should never use that power to advance their own financial interests.

That’s why I joined my colleagues in introducing a bill to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. The bill would strengthen congressional ethics, ban conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest, and increase transparency between Congress and the American public.

Specifically, the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act would:

Prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks, securities, commodities, or futures.
Provide members of Congress who own covered assets the ability to divest, diversify into allowable assets such as mutual funds, or place assets into a Qualified Blind Trust (QBT), which would be managed by an independent party.

Include strong penalties with enforcement by Congressional Ethics Offices. If members or their family members continue to hold or trade in violation of the Act, the fine would be at least the value of the members’ monthly pay.

Read more about the ETHICS Act here.

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