Cantor’s Office Wrote Loophole into Congressional Insider Trading Bill

Remember when Congress applauded itself recently for creating insider trading laws for members of Congress. Well, they also built in a loophole.

CNN is reporting that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office wrote a loophole into the House version of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK) by exempting Congress members’ spouses and children from having to report stock market transactions.

The Senate version of the bill requires these transactions be reported within 45 days by both its members and their families. But a memo from the Office of Government Ethics, which oversees all federal executive branch employees, used the House version, telling them spouses and children were not subject to the rule.

The law, which bars members of Congress from trading stocks based on information they get for work purposes and requires them to register any stock transactions over $1,000 within 45 days, was signed into effect in April.