The STOCK Act

Download or read book The STOCK Act written by David S. C. Chu and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A body of law has developed over the years to prevent insider trading, conflicts of interest, abuse of authority, and other ethical violations. In April 2012, Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act to address concerns about reported insider trading in the federal government. This Act included a provision requiring that the financial disclosures of Members of Congress, legislative staff, and certain executive branch officials be made available in a searchable, sortable, online database. Groups representing senior federal employees strongly objected to this online posting requirement and they assert it places agency missions, employees, and families at risk. This requirement is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit. Recognizing the need to balance the promotion of transparency and openness in government with the protection of employee privacy, Congress directed that the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) conduct a review of the Act's online posting provisions for senior federal officials. This Panel determined that the Act's online posting requirement does little to help detect conflicts of interest and insider trading, but that it can harm federal missions and individual employees. This Panel recommended that the online posting requirement be indefinitely suspended while continuing implementation of all other provisions of the STOCK Act.