A trust, or financial arrangement, in which a fiduciary third party has full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust. These trusts are often used by politicians to avoid a conflict of interest between the beneficiary and the investment.
A debt security, in which the issuer, such as a company, the government, or a municipality, owes the investor or holder of the bond a debt including the borrowed funds and interest that is repaid at a later date.
An individual, corporation, or association that acts on behalf of and in the interest of another party, often with the legal authority to make financial decisions, in a special relationship of trust, confidence, or responsibility; a trustee.
The privilege for US Members of Congress to send their constituents official mail addressing matters of public concern or public service (i.e. letters, newsletters, press releases, etc.) under the Member's signature without postage.
An investment company or portfolio that is allowed to utilize more flexible and aggressive investment strategies that are not allowed in mutual funds or other funds regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hedge funds require very large initial investments, have potentially very high gains, and are usually higher in risk. Investors include institutions and very high net worth individuals.
Firms or organizations that gather nonpublic legislative information from lobbyists or information sources in Congress, for stock trading or other purposes.
A type of blind trust used by government officials the contents of which are not required to be publicly disclosed so that government officials can avoid a conflict of interest between their work and personal investments by having limited knowledge of their investments. Beneficiaries of the trust have minimal knowledge of the specific holdings and investment activity of the trust except for the initial holdings in the trust, its cash value, and when an initial holding is sold.
An investment strategy in which an investor anticipates a security will drop in value, borrows shares of the security from the seller and sells the shares, then pays back the seller of the security after the price of the security has fallen in value.
A bill introduced in 2006 and reintroduced in 2007 and 2009 by a few Congressional representatives to ban trading securities based on congressional knowledge. (See the STOCK Act for further details.)
Taking above-average risks in buying securities that could potentially return significant profits on the basis of their potential selling price as opposed to the actual value of the security.
The illegal act of disclosing materialnonpublic information to someone unauthorized to know the information, prior to the information being made public.
