Rep. Blake Moore Fined For Undisclosed Stock Transactions: What He Bought, What Investors Should Know

A member of the U.S. Congress was fined for not disclosing stock transactions in the first half of 2021, according to a report from Business Insider.

What Happened: Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican from Utah, violated a transparency law called the STOCK Act.

Moore failed to disclose $700,000 to $1.1 million in stock transactions made from January to mid-May. The member of Congress made a reported 70 trades.

The STOCK Act mandates that members of Congress report their transactions within 45 days.

Moore’s office confirmed to Business Insider that the transactions were disclosed late and said he paid a fine. 

The office blamed a transfer of funds from a 401k retirement account to a financial management firm as the root of the cause.

Moore’s office said the new firm has “trained a compliance advisor to submit reports on trades and a system has now been sett up to ensure that periodic transaction reports are filed on time.”

Related Link: Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Made Some Big Tech Purchases In May And June: Here Are The Details

Moore's Stock Transactions: One stock purchased by Moore in the time period was Alibaba Group Holding BABA. Moore has been an outspoken critic of China’s government.

Moore said in March the Chinese Communist Party was a “strategic adversary” that “expertly subverts the international rules-based order.”

Another transaction Moore made that will likely come under scrutiny is Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX, a company that receives contracts from the Department of Defense. Moore purchased $60,000 in Raytheon stock from February to May, according to the report.

Moore is a member of the House Committee on Armed Services and a member of several military-related congressional caucuses.

Moore serves on the F-35 Caucus, the Hypersonics Caucus, the Military Depot, National Guard Caucus and the Navy and Marine Corps Caucus.

The Twitter account of Unusual Whales was quick to point out the lack of disclosure on the trades and Moore’s position in military-related caucuses.

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, failed to disclose dozens of stock & options worth as much as $1.1 million.

Several involved a defense contractor, $RTX.

Of note: Moore is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Link: https://t.co/lodTLfc2N5

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 26, 2021

Why It's Important: The STOCK Act was passed to ensure transparency in stock transactions from members of Congress.

Sen. David Perdue made a large number of stock transactions while a member of Congress, many while he oversaw departments that awarded government contracts.

The fine and failure to disclose by Moore could show that the STOCK Act is still not enough for tracking trades of members of Congress. 

Many have called to push new laws forbidding members of Congress from trading individual stocks while serving in office.