Dec. 16, 2021
Re: "Congress has recognized the harmful impact of insider trading..." 1. Except as those actions apply to members of Congress and the Executive Branch. If you are going to correct the inequities and loopholes in Section 10(b) 5 on "the basis of material nonpublic information about that security or its issuer, in breach of a duty owed directly, indirectly, or derivatively, to the issuer of that security or the shareholders of that issuer, or to any person who is the source of the material nonpublic information" then those regs ought to apply to everyone who has "insider information" and that should and must include all members of Congress and the Executive Branch and their staffs, based on the facts that they "was [were] aware of material nonpublic information." This does not preclude them from investing or trading in stocks and securities, but it should prevent members of the government in public service from doing so before the information is made public to all of the rest of us. The fact that there are reporting requirements for some, not all, members of the governments, is not sufficient, as those tend to be ambiguous at best, and always LATE in reporting -- i.e., annual reporting is insufficient. If you need any proof of results for the favored position of members of the government, you can read the news reports of how many members invested in stocks for Covid-related vaccines, treatments and supplies, to recognize how much money they made by investing in those companies (and/or in the converse, selling stocks in those companies in advance of negative information. The fact that members of Congress have excused and exempted themselves from laws and regulations that govern the rest of the public is a matter that should be corrected immediately. -- Beth B. Kennedy Los Angeles, CA