[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2277 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2277

  To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit Members of 
Congress from receiving a discounted price in certain private offerings 
                             of securities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2017

Ms. Slaughter introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit Members of 
Congress from receiving a discounted price in certain private offerings 
                             of securities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Congressional Stock Market Abuse 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. PARTICIPATION IN SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

    Section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u-
1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (i), by striking ``(within the meaning 
        given such term in section 12(f)(1)(G)(i))'' and inserting ``on 
        a United States or foreign securities exchange''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Participation in Securities Transactions by Members of 
Congress.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `covered security'--
                            ``(i) means any security that is regularly 
                        traded on a United States or foreign securities 
                        exchange; and
                            ``(ii) includes any comparable economic 
                        interest acquired through synthetic means such 
                        as the use of a derivative or short selling any 
                        publicly traded security;
                    ``(B) the term `price'--
                            ``(i) means--
                                    ``(I) in the case of a purchase, 
                                the national best offer, as defined in 
                                section 242.600(c) of title 17, Code of 
                                Federal Regulations;
                                    ``(II) in the case of a sale, the 
                                national best bid, as defined in 
                                section 242.600(c) of title 17, Code of 
                                Federal Regulations; or
                                    ``(III) any other value, as 
                                determined by the Commission; and
                            ``(ii) does not include any commission or 
                        fee paid to a broker or third party; and
                    ``(C) the term `United States or foreign securities 
                exchange' means--
                            ``(i) a national exchange described in 
                        section 6; and
                            ``(ii) a designated offshore securities 
                        market, as defined in section 230.92 of title 
                        17, Code of Federal Regulations.
            ``(2) Prohibition.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), a Member of Congress may not--
                            ``(i) purchase a covered security for less 
                        than the price available on a United States or 
                        foreign exchange;
                            ``(ii) sell a covered security for more 
                        than the price available on a United States or 
                        foreign exchange; or
                            ``(iii) purchase a private placement 
                        offering of a covered security available on a 
                        United States or foreign exchange.
                    ``(B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply 
                if a Member of Congress reasonably believes that--
                            ``(i) in the case of a purchase of a 
                        covered security, the discount was obtained in 
                        a manner generally available to the public; or
                            ``(ii) in the case of a sale of a covered 
                        security, the premium was obtained in a manner 
                        generally available to the public.''.
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