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This bill — the Insider Trading Prohibition Act — would define and prohibit illegal insider trading at the federal level, making it a federal crime. It would also prohibit people who wrongfully obtain material nonpublic information (MNPI) from communicating that information to others for the purposes of securities trading, regardless of whether or not a payment or a promised personal benefit was involved.

For the purposes of this bill, “wrongful” would be defined as information obtained:

Through theft, bribery, misrepresentation or espionage;
In violation of any federal law protecting computer data, intellectual property, or the privacy of computer users;
The conversion, misappropriation or other unauthorized and deceptive taking of computer data or intellectual property; or
Through a breach of any fiduciary duty or any other personal or other relationship of trust and confidence.

This bill would also make the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responsible for determining whether the new insider trading prohibitions also apply to automated security-trading transactions. The SEC would also have the authority to exempt any person or transaction under this bill at its discretion.

Finally, this bill would remove a requirement under current law, established in U.S. v. Newman, that requires the person who receives a “tip” and trades on that information to have knowledge that the “tipper” received a personal benefit for providing the MNPI. Under this bill, all that’s needed to prove insider trading is the establishment of the fact that the tippee was aware of, or recklessly disregarded, the fact that the information was wrongfully obtained or communicated, and still traded on it.

Currently, the law prohibits the use of “any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance'' when trading securities. Similarly, federal regulations prohibit people from engaging in “any act, practice, or course of business which operates . . . as a fraud or deceit'' in connection with securities trading. In the absence of a law specifically outlawing insider trading, the SEC has used those general anti-fraud provisions, informed by judicial decisions and case law, to prosecute instances of illegal insider trading.

","official_title":"To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit certain securities trading and related communications by those who possess material, nonpublic information.","short_title":"Insider Trading Prohibition Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Insider Trading Prohibition Act This bill generally provides statutory authority for the prohibition against securities trading, as well as related communications to others, by a person aware of material, nonpublic information. The bill further provides, for purposes of establishing a violation of this prohibition, that it is not necessary for such a person to know specifically how such information was obtained or whether a personal benefit was paid or promised. ","summarized":true,"cost":0,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that this bill’s incremental cost would be very small if the SEC increased fees to offset the costs associated with implementing it (which it’s allowed to do). 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Certain ambiguous phrases in this bill could also be too open to judicial interpretation, running the risk that judges — not lawmakers — will have the final say on how it’s implemented.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr2534-116","bill_id":"hr2534-116","formal_id":"H.R. 2534","chamber":"house","congress":116,"last_action_at":"2019-12-09T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2019-12-05T00:00:00.000Z","debated_on":"2019-11-29T20:46:41.000Z","congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2534","plain_text_url":null,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2534-116.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2534/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":null,"related_bill_ids":null,"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":237,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Financial Services","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSBA","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSBK","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr2534-116","details":"/api/bills/hr2534-116/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr2534-116","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr2534-116/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr2534-116/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":2,"slug":"hr2534-116-insider-trading-prohibition-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr2534-116","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":1162,"yea_vote_count":1087,"nay_vote_count":73,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["financial-markets","crime-and-police","legal-affairs"],"issue_ids":["ethics","private-sector","banking","financial-markets","crime-and-police","legal-affairs","business","federal-agencies"],"sponsor_id":354}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"ethics","name":"Ethics","slug":"ethics","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Ethics. 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Should Insider Trading Be Defined & Prohibited at the Federal Level?