The STOCK Act of 2012 and the

Purposes of Transparency

Kathleen Clark

Chicago-Kent College of LawApril 30, 2013

STOCK Act of 2012 Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge

Purpose“prevent

members and employees of Congress

from trading on the basis of nonpublic information

acquired through such positions”

60 Minutes

Insider Tradingby

Members of Congress

STOCK Act of 2012

scandal

êethics regulation

Insider TradingAlready Illegal

Role of

Transparency in

Government Ethics

Different legal rules for

legislative &

executive branches

Federal Conflict of Interest Statute

Applies to Executive Branch Not to Congress

Federal Financial Disclosure

AssetsIncome

TransactionsLiabilities

Gifts Outside / Future Jobs

Federal Financial Disclosure

Congress: Members & senior staffExecutive branch: 28,000 employees

Federal Financial Disclosure

28,000 - Publicly available -- but with hurdles

300,000 – Not publicly available

Specific Reforms:

Timely transaction reportsSearchable sortable database of• Congress:

-Members-Highly paid staff

• 28,000 Exec. branch employees

Purposes of federal

financial discosure

Accountability: - political – Congress - legal - Executive Branch

Purposes of massive online

financial discosure

Accountability: - political - legal - Executive BranchPreventing theftTransparency

Public disclosure – with hurdles

v.

Web-based disclosuresearchable & sortable

Controversial

- Politically

- Legally

Concerns

• Identity theft

• Identifying spies

•Privacy

Senior Executive

Association v.

United States

Sensitive

Personal

Financial

Information

S.E.A. v U.S.

Granted preliminary injunction

Denied govt’s motion to dismiss

Revised Gutted (?)

STOCK Act

Web-based disclosure for: - Members of Congress - Senate-confirmed executive branch officialsNo searchable sortable database

The STOCK Act of 2012 and the

Purposes of Transparency

Kathleen Clark

kathleen_clark@mac.com

Chicago-Kent College of LawApril 30, 2013