The law prohibits the use of non-public information for private profit, including insider trading, by members of Congress and other government employees.

[4] According to the current United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics, "A member, officer, or employee of the Senate shall not receive any compensation, nor shall he permit any compensation to accrue to his beneficial interest from any source, the receipt or accrual of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from his position as a member, officer, or employee.

Amongst other regulations placed, this piece of legislature also had large implications on the effects of information asymmetry and was intended to create honest and just security transactions.

These acts were necessary to prevent fraudulent activity imposed by large corporations and political representatives to which were very capable of hiding information that would benefit their company or their applicable assets.

The Act also requires members of Congress and Executive branch officials to disclose the terms of mortgages on their homes, prohibits them from receiving special access to initial public stock offerings, and denies federal pensions to members of Congress who are convicted of felonies involving public corruption.

Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to declare that such Members and employees owe a duty arising from a relationship of trust and confidence to Congress, the U.S. government, and U.S. citizens with respect to material, nonpublic information derived from their positions as Members or congressional employees or gained from performance of the individual's official responsibilities.

Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EGA) to require specified individuals to file reports within 30 to 45 days after receiving notice of a purchase, sale, or exchange which exceeds $1,000 in stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other forms of securities, subject to any waivers and exclusions.

Lists such individuals as: (1) the President; (2) the Vice President; (3) executive officers or employees, including certain special government employees and members of a uniformed service; (4) appointed administrative law judges; (5) executive branch employees in positions excepted from the competitive service because of their confidential or policymaking character (except those excluded from such exception by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics [OGE]); (6) the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General, each Governor of the Board of Governors of the U.S.

Directs the Secretary, the Sergeant at Arms, and the Clerk to develop systems to enable the electronic filing of such reports as well as their on-line public availability.

Requires the OGE to issue interpretive guidance of the relevant federal ethics statutes and regulations, including the Standards of Ethical Conduct for executive branch employees, to specify that no such individual may use non-public information derived from his or her position or gained from the performance of official responsibilities as a means for making a private profit.

Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to declare that such individuals owe a duty arising from a relationship of trust and confidence to the federal government and U.S. citizens with respect to material, nonpublic information derived from their positions as executive branch employees, judicial officers, or judicial employees gained from performance of the individual's official responsibilities.

Requires the OGE Director to develop systems to enable electronic filing and public access to these financial disclosure forms.

Amends EGA to require the financial disclosure report of the following individuals to include any secured mortgage which is their personal residence or that of his or her spouse: (1) the President, the Vice President, Members of Congress; and (2) certain individuals nominated for appointments as executive branch officers or employees (except those nominated to positions as Foreign Service Officers or a grade or rank in the uniformed services with a pay grade of 0-6 or below).

Weissmann, a candidate for Congress in Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, recently claimed that STOCK was long overdue and that "The passage of the STOCK Act by both the House and Senate is a good first step in deterring these abusive practices, but doesn't go far enough to protect the American people from members of Congress who chose to act with self-interest over public good.

"[12] Other examples of positive support for STOCK include President Obama who upon signing the bill reassured that congressional members must play by the same rules as regular citizens.

[15] Analysis in 2021 by Business Insider shows fifty four members of Congress, executive officials, and numerous staffers violating the STOCK Act.

[16][17] As of 2021, in the approximately nine month period up to September 2021, Senate and House members disclosed 4,000 trades worth at least $315 million of stocks and bonds.

[15] A majority of respondents supported a ban for members of Congress to hold individual stocks as shown in a recent poll conducted in March 2020.

Insider trading laws which already existed to stop such practices lack specific definitions making them difficult to enforce, the STOCK Act attempts to rectify this but critics argue it does not do enough.