S.Amdt. 5862

The amendment, known as the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, aims to ban insider trading in Congress. It proposes adding a new subchapter to title 5 of the United States Code to restrict certain financial activities for Members of Congress and their spouses.

Key Changes and Additions:

• Prohibitions: Members of Congress and their spouses are prohibited from holding, purchasing, or selling covered financial instruments. These include securities, security futures, commodities, and similar synthetic interests like derivatives, options, or warrants.

• Exclusions: The ban does not apply to diversified mutual funds, diversified exchange-traded funds, United States Treasury bills, notes, or bonds, or compensation from the primary job of a dependent child or spouse.

• Timeline for Compliance: Current Members must complete sales of covered instruments within 180 days of the Act's enactment. New Members must do so within 180 days of their first date of service.

• Accountability and Penalties:

  • Members must submit annual written certifications of compliance, which will be published on a public website.
  • Profits from prohibited transactions must be given back to the Treasury of the United States.
  • Supervising ethics committees can assess civil fines equal to 10 percent of the value of the instrument that was not divested.
  • Details of fines and the reasons for them will be published publicly.

• Oversight: The Comptroller General of the United States is required to conduct an audit of compliance within 2 years of the Act's enactment and report the results to the supervising ethics committees.