When I worked for a finance adjacent firm, not even a firm that handled money, my compliance policy was super strict even by industry standards and I was a lowly Sr. SWE. The reasoning I was given was to not never even provide a hint of impropriety or using data ahead of our customers. Reputation was everything.

The blanket company-wide policy was as follows. Certain departments had rules on top of this.

1. Limited to general stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, etc. No derivatives allowed (options, etc.). Even private stock or private options from my prior require required a review from compliance when I started. 2. No selling for a gain within 30 days of the purchase date on ANY security. Selling for a loss was allowed at any time. 3. All brokerage accounts had to be linked to their compliance portal. An automated compliance check pulled your statements weekly and would open a ticket with compliance if anything looked to violate policy. If your brokerage was not supported electronically, you had to submit monthly paper statements.

I don't see why Congress shouldn't be subject to similar rules, especially those on finance committees.