President Obama has signed a new law aimed at curbing insider trading in Congress. The STOCK Act, or Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, prevents members of Congress from using confidential information to trade stocks and securities and requires lawmakers to publicly disclose stock and other trades within 45 days. The insider trading ban also extends to congressional staff and other government officials. Obama praised the new law.

President Obama: “The STOCK Act makes it clear that if members of Congress use nonpublic information to gain an unfair advantage in the market, then they are breaking the law. It creates new disclosure requirements and new measures of accountability and transparency for thousands of federal employees. That is a good and necessary thing. We were sent here to serve the American people and look out for their interests, not to look out for our own interests.”