TheCorporateCounsel.net

The well-timed trades by certain lawmakers during April have once again drawn attention to the issue that – unlike most of us who are involved with public companies – some members of Congress have few qualms about appearing to use confidential information to their advantage. This time, their windfalls have sparked renewed interest in the “Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress Act” – cleverly nicknamed the “TRUST in Congress Act.”

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) reintroduced the bill in the House this past January with Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introducing a companion bill in the Senate (that one’s called the “PELOSI” Act). This legislation would go beyond the STOCK Act that already exists – which we’ve covered from time to time. Instead of simply requiring disclosure of trades, it would aim to prevent insider trading by members of Congress by requiring them to use a blind trust – specifically:

such individual and any spouse or dependent child of such individual shall place any covered investment owned by such individual, spouse, or dependent child into a qualified blind trust.

Even though the bill has some bipartisan support, its prior iterations haven’t made it to the finish line – and GovTrack gives this version a 9% chance of becoming law. With those odds, I’m not planning to trust Congress any time soon.

– Liz Dunshee