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

Not just the 535. The obligation runs to every federal officer and employee in the legislative and executive branches who already files a public financial disclosure report under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 — which is a much larger group than Congress itself.

Members of Congress

All 535 seats, House and Senate.

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.

Senior staff and executive-branch officials

Anyone already required to file a public financial disclosure report.

What must be reported

Purchases, sales and exchanges of stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other securities over $1,000 — including transactions made on the filer’s behalf by an adviser, and including those inside a defined-contribution retirement plan, a variable annuity or a 529.

What is not reported is as important: the form carries no share count, no price paid, and no dollar amount. It carries a bracket. That single fact governs everything this site will and will not print.

Sources

• CRS — The STOCK Act, Insider Trading, and Public Financial Reporting by Federal Officials
• Congress.gov — Stock Trading in Congress
• U.S. House — Financial Disclosure Reports

Keep reading

• The 45-day rule, and what a late filing actually costsThe only hard number in the law, why most filings arrive in the last week they can, and why the $200 penalty is weaker than it sounds.
• Why a disclosed amount is a range and never a numberMembers report one of ten brackets, not a figure. Everything you read about congressional trading profits is estimated from those brackets — here is how, and how wrong it can be.
• How to read a periodic transaction reportEvery field on the form, which three actually matter, and the two that are most often misread.