End Congressional Stock Market Abuse Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-350
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2017-02-09
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Members of Congress

Securities
Latest action: action_date: 2017-02-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-02-09
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>End Congressional Stock Market Abuse Act of 2017</strong></p> <p>This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit Members of Congress, in securities transactions, from receiving a discounted&nbsp;purchase price or a premium sales price.</p> <p>This prohibition shall not apply if the Member of Congress reasonably believes that the discount or premium was obtained in a manner generally available to the public.</p>

tv_txt: II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 350 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 9, 2017 Mr. Franken (for himself, Mr. Sanders , and Mr. Wyden ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit Members of Congress from receiving a discounted price in certain private offerings of securities.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the End Congressional Stock Market Abuse Act of 2017 . 2. Participation in securities transactions by public officials Section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 15 U.S.C. 78u–1 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (j) Participation in securities transactions by Members of Congress (1) Definitions In this subsection— (A) the term covered security — (i) means any security that is regularly traded on a United States or foreign securities exchange; and (ii) includes any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means such as the use of a derivative or short selling any publicly traded security; (B) the term price — (i) means— (I) in the case of a purchase, the national best offer, as defined in section 242.600(c) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations; (II) in the case of a sale, the national best bid, as defined in section 242.600(c) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations; or (III) any other value, as determined by the Commission; and (ii) does not include any commission or fee paid to a broker or third party; and (C) the term United States or foreign securities exchange means— (i) a national exchange described in section 6; and (ii) a designated offshore securities market, as defined in section 230.92 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations. (2) Prohibition (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a Member of Congress may not— (i) purchase a covered security for less than the price available on a United States or foreign exchange; or (ii) sell a covered security for more than the price available on a United States or foreign exchange. (B) Exception Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if a Member of Congress reasonably believes that— (i) in the case of a purchase of a covered security, the discount was obtained in a manner generally available to the public; or (ii) in the case of a sale of a covered security, the premium was obtained in a manner generally available to the public. .