Obama signs insider trading bill, wants more curbs on Congress

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on Wednesday for stricter controls on lawmakers to confront "the corrosive influence" of money in Washington as he signed into law an insider trading ban he said was needed to help restore trust in the U.S. government.

The Democrat, who is running for re-election in November, said the STOCK Act he signed at the White House made plain that members of Congress using non-public information to improve their personal investment portfolios were breaking the law.

Enforcement of the core stock trading disclosure provisions will begin in July.

He also called for more restrictions, saying lawmakers should not be allowed to own stocks in industries they have the power to affect and that people who bundle campaign funds for Congress should not be able to lobby elected representatives.

"The powerful shouldn't get to create one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everybody else," Obama said, linking the insider trading legislation to one of his key campaign themes: economic fairness.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/04/us-usa-obama-congress-idUSBRE83310N20120404