US House Passes Bill against Congressional Insider Trading

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed on Thursday a bill to curb insider trading by lawmakers and other government officials, despite objections from both Democrats and Republicans that it was weaker than a version passed by the Senate last week.

The House voted 417-2 to pass the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, even though it did not include a provision to impose new regulations on Washington insiders who collect "political intelligence" from lawmakers and sell it to Wall Street. The Senate version included this proposal.

House and Senate members are now expected to haggle over the differences between the two bills before sending the legislation to President Barack Obama, who has promised a swift signature.