Federal Officials Trade Stock in Companies Their Agencies Oversee

schwit1 shares a report: A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that thousands of officials across the U.S. government's executive branch disclosed owning or trading stocks that stood to rise or fall with decisions their agencies made. Across 50 federal agencies ranging from the Commerce Department to the Treasury Department, more than 2,600 officials reported stock investments in companies while those companies were lobbying their agencies for favorable policies, during both Republican and Democratic administrations. When the financial holdings caused a conflict, the agencies sometimes simply waived the rules. The Office of Government Ethics, which oversees the conflict-of-interest rules across the executive branch, is "committed to transparency and citizen oversight of government," said a spokeswoman. Among the findings of the investigation, which is the most comprehensive analysis of stock trading by officials in the executive branch of the government:Numerous federal officials owned shares of companies lobbying their agencies: More than 200 senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, or nearly one in three, reported that they or their family members held investments in companies that were lobbying the agency.Issues emerged at a wide array of agencies: At the Defense Department, officials in the office of the secretary or their family members collectively owned between $1.2 million and $3.4 million of stock in aerospace and defense companies, on average, during years the Journal examined. Some owned stock in Chinese companies while the U.S. considered blacklisting the companies.Some officials traded ahead of regulatory actions: More than five dozen officials at five agencies reported trading stocks of companies shortly before their departments announced enforcement actions against those companies, such as charges or settlements.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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