[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5221 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 536
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5221
To prohibit the purchase, sale, or exchange of nonpublic information,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 3, 2026
Mr. Padilla (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Peters,
and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was read the
first time
August 4, 2026
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the purchase, sale, or exchange of nonpublic information,
and for other purposes.
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 ``Stop Corrupt Trading Act''.
SEC. 2. MISUSE OF NONPUBLIC INFORMATION.
(a) In General.--Chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 228. Misuse of nonpublic information
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Covered entity.--The term `covered entity' means a
firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity--
``(A) which a covered person or a member of the
immediate family of a covered person controls, directly
or indirectly; or
``(B) in which a covered person beneficially owns a
financial interest in the entity comprising not less
than 5 percent of the equity, profits, or revenue
interests of the entity.
``(2) Covered person.--The term `covered person' means the
President or Vice President.
``(3) Nonpublic information.--The term `nonpublic
information'--
``(A) means information that a covered person gains
as a result of the covered person's official position
and that the covered person knows or reasonably should
know has not been made available to the general public,
including information that the covered person knows or
reasonably should know--
``(i) is routinely exempt from disclosure
under section 552 of title 5 or otherwise
protected from disclosure by statute, Executive
order, or regulation;
``(ii) is designated as confidential; or
``(iii) has not been disseminated to the
general public and is not authorized to be made
available to the public on request; and
``(B) includes statements or other communications
by a covered person made available via application
programming interface or other means that are not made
available to the general public on equal terms.
``(b) Misuse of Nonpublic Information.--
``(1) Sale by covered persons and entities.--No covered
person or covered entity may enter into a transaction to sell
or exchange nonpublic information for financial benefit.
``(2) Purchase or sale by other persons.--No person may
enter into a transaction to acquire, purchase, sell, or
exchange nonpublic information for financial benefit.
``(c) Criminal Penalties and Forfeiture.--
``(1) Penalty.--The punishment for an offense under
subsection (b) shall be--
``(A) for an offense under subparagraph (A), a fine
not more than double the value of the transaction, to
be deposited in the Treasury or imprisonment for not
more than 5 years, or both; and
``(B) for an offense under subparagraph (B), a fine
not more than double the value of the transaction, to
be deposited in the Treasury.
``(2) Criminal forfeiture.--The court, in imposing a
sentence on a person convicted of an offense under subsection
(b), shall order that the person forfeit to the United States
any property, real or personal, constituting or derived from
proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the
offense.
``(d) Civil Enforcement; Disgorgement.--
``(1) Civil action.--The Attorney General may bring a civil
action in an appropriate district court of the United States
against any person or entity that engages in conduct
constituting a violation of subsection (b) (without regard to
whether a criminal prosecution has been brought), for--
``(A) disgorgement to the United States of all
profits, payments, and other things of value derived
from the conduct;
``(B) a civil penalty of not more than the greater
of $250,000 or 3 times the amount of the gain derived
from, or the payment made in, the conduct, for each
violation; and
``(C) appropriate equitable relief, including an
injunction and a constructive trust for the benefit of
the United States over property traceable to the
conduct.
``(2) Standard of proof.--In an action under this
subsection, the standard of proof shall be a preponderance of
the evidence.
``(3) Statute of limitations; tolling.--An action under
this subsection shall be commenced not later than 6 years after
the date on which the conduct occurred, except that such period
shall be tolled during any period in which the defendant, or
the covered person from whose position the nonpublic
information concerned was derived, holds the office of
President or Vice President.
``(4) Liability of counterparties and entities.--A covered
entity, and any person that knowingly provides anything of
value in a transaction described in subsection (b) shall be
jointly and severally liable for the remedies described in
paragraph (1) with respect to that transaction.
``(5) Referral.--The Director of the Office of Government
Ethics shall refer to the Attorney General any credible
evidence of conduct described in paragraph (1), and shall
notify the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives of
each referral.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 11 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``228. Misuse of nonpublic information.''.
Calendar No. 536
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5221
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the purchase, sale, or exchange of nonpublic information,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
August 4, 2026
Read the second time and placed on the calendar