Glossary
The 2012 federal law requiring members of Congress and senior executive-branch officials to publicly disclose stock trades within 45 days.
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act) is a 2012 federal law that requires members of the U.S. House and Senate, their senior staff, and senior executive-branch officials to publicly disclose individual securities transactions within 45 days of the trade. Disclosures are filed as Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs) with the House Clerk or the Senate Office of Public Records and posted to the public.
The law was enacted in response to reporting that members of Congress had traded stocks while in possession of non-public information learned through their official duties. Each trade must include the politician (or their spouse / dependent child), the security traded, the transaction date, the transaction type (purchase, sale, exchange), and the dollar amount in pre-defined brackets (e.g., $1,001–$15,000, $15,001–$50,000, up to $50,000,001+).
Penalties for late filings are nominally $200 per violation but enforcement has been inconsistent. The law does NOT prohibit members of Congress from trading individual stocks; it only requires disclosure.
Disclosed Capitol ingests every STOCK Act filing from house.gov and senate.gov as soon as it's posted, enriches each trade with ticker resolution, returns calculations, and cross-references against legislation and committee assignments.