The STOCK Act, explained

What the law does

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 does two things. It states plainly that members of Congress are not exempt from insider-trading law, and it requires covered officials to publicly report their securities transactions on a fixed schedule. The second half is what produces the documents this site is built from.

The reporting duty attaches to the transaction, not to anyone’s intent. There is no threshold of suspicion to cross and no judgement call to make: a covered purchase over $1,000 is reportable whether it was shrewd, routine or accidental.

Who it covers

The STOCK Act extends beyond Congress. This guide focuses on House filings, the source this site ingests. House members, officers and certain employees file PTRs; filing an annual disclosure does not by itself mean that a candidate must file PTRs.

Members of Congress

House and Senate members are covered. House requirements also include Delegates and the Resident Commissioner; this site does not ingest Senate filings.

Spouses and dependent children

Their transactions are reported under the filer’s name. A trade appearing under a member does not mean the member personally placed it.

Other covered filers

Officers and employees have eligibility rules. Consult the official guidance for the filer’s office instead of assuming every public disclosure filer has the same duties.

What must be reported

Reportable purchases, sales and exchanges of stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other non-excepted securities over $1,000. An adviser-managed or retirement account is not automatically exempt. Qualifying excepted investment funds, including many mutual funds and ETFs, are excluded from PTR transaction reporting.

The standard transaction form gives an amount category, rather than a required share count or execution price. Rare amended filings in our archive state exact values. We preserve the bracket or exact amount as filed; neither establishes the owner’s profit or current holdings.

Sources

• House Committee on Ethics — financial disclosure requirements
• House Committee on Ethics — 2026 instruction guide (PTRs and late fees, pages 12–20)
• Congress.gov — Stock Trading in Congress
• U.S. House — Financial Disclosure Reports

Keep reading

• The 45-day rule, and what a late filing actually costsHow the 30-day notification and 45-day transaction deadlines interact, what the House late-fee rules say, and why a timing flag is not a penalty record.
• How congressional disclosure amounts are reportedThe standard form uses ten brackets; rare amended filings can state an exact value. Here is what the source says and what must be estimated.
• How to read a periodic transaction reportEvery field on the form, which three actually matter, and the two that are most often misread.