The 45-day rule, and what a late filing actually costs
This is the one figure on this site that describes a rule rather than a pattern. A filing on day 46 is late as a matter of fact, not opinion.
Two deadlines, not one
- 30 days
- From the filer becoming AWARE of the transaction. Because a spouse or an adviser may have executed it, awareness can genuinely lag the trade.
- 45 days
- From the transaction itself. This one is absolute — it does not move regardless of when the filer learned.
We publish the gap between trade date and filing date on every row, and measure lateness against the 45-day figure, because it is the only one an outside reader can verify from the document.
The deadline is the schedule, not the backstop
Plot the gap for a full session and the shape is not a smooth spread across the window — it is a spike in the final week. That is worth knowing before reading any single filing as unusual: arriving on day 43 is entirely ordinary.
What a late filing costs
A $200 fee. That is the whole administrative penalty, it is applied at the discretion of the House or Senate Ethics Committee, and it is routinely waived.
Sources
Keep reading
- The STOCK Act, explainedWhat the 2012 law actually requires members of Congress to disclose, who it covers, and the three things people most often get wrong about it.
- How to read a periodic transaction reportEvery field on the form, which three actually matter, and the two that are most often misread.
General information about a public disclosure law. Not legal advice, not investment advice, and not affiliated with any government body.