U.S. Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) has been charged with tipping off other investors to pull out of a failing stock, long before the news of the downturn had hit the public.
Collins, who previously served on the board of Innate Immunotherapeutics, allegedly received an email from the head of the company that a lead product had failed in a trial. Collins pulled his stock and allegedly contacted family members and personal contacts who had invested, urging them to pull their stock.
Senators are not allowed to sit on corporate boards, but members of the House are — which raises a larger question: how much involvement is ethical, when those who regulate these companies are allowed to dip their toes in the investment pool?
According to Medical Ethicist Art Caplan, Senators and members of Congress should be legally obligated to put their stocks in blind trusts. “They’re regulating these companies, they’re doing things that directly impact these companies, they shouldn’t be speculating day-to-day or buying or selling stock,” Caplan said during an interview with Boston Public Radio Thursday. “Remember they have hearings and get insider information, they know things long before the public does, and they’re still trading away in the stock market.”
“This is a putrid swamp,” Caplan continued. “Congressmen should not sit on corporate boards, of anything! How can that be [when] they’re regulating these things?”
To hear the full interview, click on the audio player above.
