Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala) is Investigated for Insider Trading

[marmar]

Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Bachus is Investigated for Insider Trading


The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the House Financial Services Committee chairman Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) for possibly violating insider-trading laws, as well as using his public position for private gain. The probe is said to have opened last year, after investigators identified suspicious trades on Bachus's annual financial disclosure forms.

The Washington Post reports that Bachus has made multiple trades in recent years, some of which coincide with major policy announcements by the federal government and industries under congressional oversight:

The case is the first of its kind involving a member of Congress. It comes at a time of intense public scrutiny of congressional ethics, with the House passing legislation Thursday to tighten rules against insider trading by lawmakers. The impetus for the legislation, a version of which passed in the Senate a week earlier, came from a “60 Minutes” report and a book mentioning Bachus’s trades, “Throw Them All Out,” by Peter Schweizer."

...

Most of his investments are for less than $10,000, and almost all involve options rather than stock purchases. The options allowed Bachus to buy or sell stocks at certain prices in the future — betting that the value of those stocks will rise or fall.

A Fidelity brokerage statement Bachus submitted for 2008 shows that he made $30,474 in short-term investments, many of them bought and sold in a matter of days, sometimes during the same day. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/782378/financial_services_committee_chair_rep._bachus_is_investigated_for_insider_trading/

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/782378/financial_services_committee_chair_rep._bachus_is_investigated_for_insider_trading/

[russspeakeasy]

1. Makes my day .