Robert A. Levine
Once again, House Republicans have been unwilling to take a strong stand against insider trading.
Though a revised version of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) was passed yesterday by the House by an overwhelming margin, it was only after Republicans had weakened the bill. In December, Republican Spencer Bachus from Alabama, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee postponed voting on a bill that would have prohibited insider trading by members of Congress. This was despite the fact that the bill had over a hundred co-sponsors and overwhelming public support. Today the Washington Post reported today that Bacchus is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for possible insider-trading violations. How’s that for having the fox in the henhouse?
In the current bill, Republican Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia and the House Republican leadership eliminated a provision that would have regulated the collection of intelligence gleaned from political insiders; ie members of Congress, senators and other federal officials. This valuable knowledge can be passed on to hedge funds, mutual funds and other financial industry personnel who use it to determine investment strategies. The Senate had previously approved the bill with a
provision that required “political intelligence consultants” to register as lobbyists and divulge their activities. Republican Senator Grassley of Iowa, who had crafted the amendment on political intelligence, was quite angry over the House Republicans’ actions, saying- “It’s astonishing and extremely disappointing that the House would fulfill Wall Street’s wishes by killing this provision.” But Congressman Cantor wanted further study of the issue by the Government Accountability Office which could delay action for up to a year.
According to Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter of New York, one of the originators of the STOCK Act, Wall Street and those involved in the political intelligence industry had been lobbying against the Grassley measure. They were concerned that the required registration would have compelled transparency from investment advisors regarding clients to whom they transmitted political intelligence. And Wall Street and their lobbyists were successful in their efforts to gut the bill of the troublesome provision.
Once again, ethics has taken a back seat to Wall Street’s needs and political expediency. What’s new?
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Once again, House Republicans have been unwilling to take a strong stand against insider trading.
In the current bill, Republican Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia and the House Republican leadership eliminated a provision that would have regulated the collection of intelligence gleaned from political insiders; ie members of Congress, senators and other federal officials. This valuable knowledge can be passed on to hedge funds, mutual funds and other financial industry personnel who use it to determine investment strategies. The Senate had previously approved the bill with a
According to Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter of New York, one of the originators of the STOCK Act, Wall Street and those involved in the political intelligence industry had been lobbying against the Grassley measure. They were concerned that the required registration would have compelled transparency from investment advisors regarding clients to whom they transmitted political intelligence. And Wall Street and their lobbyists were successful in their efforts to gut the bill of the troublesome provision.
Once again, ethics has taken a back seat to Wall Street’s needs and political expediency. What’s new?
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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