Many may have read the news about the proposed complete ban on Congress members trading. However, I don't think this will happen because, logically, it could make things even worse. A better solution would be same-day disclosure.

Why?

1. Insider trading is illegal. Investigating insider trading is challenging because a high return on a trade does not necessarily indicate insider trading, whether in Congress or a large company.
2. Before the STOCK Act of 2012, Congress members were not required to disclose their trades. Now, they must disclose trades within 45 days.

The reason for the STOCK Act of 2012 can be understood from this quote:

Insider trading laws apply to lawmakers, but the push to require more transparency about their investments came after the 2009 financial crisis. Several lawmakers made large profits after trading financial services stocks before major banks began to fold.

• NPR

In summary:

• Some Congress members made significant profits during the 2009 financial crisis (as did many other investors).
• People and the media found this surprising and believed it was unfair, but there was no proof of insider trading.
• To prevent this, the STOCK Act of 2012 was enacted, requiring lawmakers to disclose their trades.

Now, we have two conclusions:

• Insider trading is difficult to detect and prove.
• Congress members might have access to information before the public, but proving insider trading is challenging.

Imagine if Congress members were completely banned from trading. They could still be illegal to share early information with others or using private trust, making it even harder to trace insider trading. At the same time, they wouldn't have to disclose their trades at all.

Conclusion

1. The problem isn't Congress trading itself; the root issue is the difficulty of proving insider trading.
2. A complete ban could make things worse unless we address the system flaws in insider trading laws. If we fix these, we wouldn't need to ban Congress members specifically.
3. The worst case is basically, Congress Members are still trading through trusts or unrelated people illegally, and transparency from STOCK Act 2012 is gone.

Banning them without fixing insider trading laws could potentially make things worse. A better solution might be requiring same-day disclosure to ensure transparency, if an inside information is public on time, it is not inside anymore.

If this banning happen, I believe it will be the time to buy stocks for trusts service like Northern Trust Corporation.