Democratic Iowa Rep. Cindy Axne traded up to $135,000 in the stocks of companies that she conducts direct oversight of, transaction reports filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives show.
Axne, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, traded up to $45,000 worth of stock in Global Payments Inc., up to $45,000 worth of stock of the Markel Corporation, up to $30,000 worth of stock in Visa and up to $15,000 worth of stock in Mastercard, according to a transaction notice she filed on Tuesday. Axne’s trades were first reported Wednesday by Sludge.
The House Financial Services Committee conducts oversight of major banks, insurance and credit card companies. In addition to the two credit card companies, Global Payments Inc. produces digital payment software and the Markel Corporation is primarily an insurance company. Since Axne joined the House Financial Services Committee in 2019, the committee has held hearings addressing the acquisition and reporting of credit, digital payments and cryptocurrencies, and insurance.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 08: Committee Chair Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) (3rd L) speaks as ranking member Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) (L) listens during a hearing before House Financial Services Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States.” (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“As the Congresswoman has made clear previously, she does not oversee her family’s retirement or college savings accounts—which she opened more than a decade ago, long before she came to Congress. Federal law requires her to disclose the transactions in her family’s retirement accounts, even though they are run by a financial advisor and she does nothing to request or approve their actions. These retirement and savings accounts function without her input, and therefore have no bearing on her work as a Representative for Iowa—and the routine disclosures from them should be treated as such,” a spokesperson for Axne told the Daily Caller.
Axne was the target of a recent ethics complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center over other trades. The group alleged that Axne violated the STOCK Act, which regulates the financial activities of members of Congress, by failing to disclose 40 trades worth between $43,000 and $645,000. The STOCK Act requires that members of Congress report all stock transactions within 45 days of the trade. (RELATED: Ethics Complaint Alleges Democratic Rep. Broke Law By Failing To Disclose Stock Trades)
Some members of Congress have called for elected officials to be banned from trading individual stocks. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for Congress to take up a bill she introduced in March with Republicans including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and Texas Rep. Michael Cloud that would ban members from trading individual stocks.
“Because we have access to sensitive information and upcoming policy, I do not believe members of Congress should hold/trade individual stock and I choose not to hold any so I can remain impartial about policy marking,” she wrote on Instagram.