-
US House adopts insider trading ban
The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly adopted a bill aimed at explicitly banning insider trading by lawmakers who face deep election-year anger at politicians and Wall Street.
With nine months before November elections and just one in ten Americans saying they approve of the job Congress is doing, the House voted 417-2 for the legislation as usually polarized Republicans and Democrats united.
Some outside critics had charged that existing securities fraud legislation already applies to lawmakers, while Democrats accused Republicans of watering down the Senate-passed bill -- but still backed it.
The vote in the Republican-led House set up a possible "conference" with the Democratic-controlled Senate to craft a compromise version that lawmakers would have to approve to send to President Barack Obama to sign into law.
Both bills, adopted after Obama pushed lawmakers to act on the issue, bar lawmakers as well as families and staff and executive branch officials to enrich themselves by trading on non-public information.
Members of Congress often get private briefings from top corporate executives.
The House-passed measure would require disclosure of transactions in stocks, bonds, or commodities and other investments within 45 days while forbidding lawmakers and administration officials from getting preferential treatment in initial stock offerings.
The House stripped out a Senate-adopted amendment requiring that people who gather information from Congress for sale to investment firms -- so called "political intelligence" operators -- register as lobbyists.
