Obama Signs Congressional Insider Trading Ban

CNBC

President Barack Obama signs the Stock Act.

President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday prohibiting members of Congress, the president and thousands of other federal workers from engaging in insider trading.

While the bill allows the public to see more of government officials' financial dealings, lawmakers abandoned an earlier proposal to require public reports from people who gather information from Congress — and sell it, mainly to investors.

The impetus for the bill, known as the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act, was Congress' need to boost its dismal approval ratings. Polls in the past several weeks indicated between 12 percent and 19 percent of Americans approved of the job Congress is doing.