“According to Perdue’s financial disclosures, between May of 2017 and November of 2017 when a possible bill to help banks like Regions was publicly announced, Perdue bought between $11,000 and $165,000 worth of Regions Financial Corporation Stock.”
“In October of 2019, Perdue sold thousands of those shares of Regions stock. According to his disclosure report, the two day sell off was valued between $115,002 – $300,000.”
Atlanta, Ga. — Last night, new investigative reporting by FOX 5 Atlanta’s Dale Russell uncovered details revealing that Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) profited off the sale of thousands of dollars of stock in a bank that benefited from legislation he championed and shepherded through Congress.
According to the report, Perdue bought stock in Regions Financial Corporation, a bank holding company based in Birmingham, Alabama, between May 2017 and November 2017, when legislation was announced that could benefit the company. Perdue helped advance the legislation through the Senate and then sold shares after the legislation passed, making major gains in his stock portfolio.
The FOX 5 I-Team cited reporting from The New York Times that “Perdue retained some degree of discretion over which trades were made and when,” contrary to the numerous instances Perdue has asserted otherwise.
An ethics expert from Emory deemed the well-timed trades an ethical issue, saying “People have to believe that the people’s representatives are acting in a way that is for the good of the American public and not arguably for their own good.”
WATCH:
Find key highlights from the report below.
- A FOX 5 I-Team investigation has found more stock trades made by U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) involving a regional bank that benefited from legislation he supported and helped write.
- In March of 2018, Perdue urged fellow members of the Senate Banking Committee to support a bill rolling back Obama era regulation on smaller regional and community banks.
- “I encourage every member of this body to think seriously about this and support this bill in its final passage,” said Perdue.
- The FOX 5 I-Team found in May of 2017, ten months prior to this public speech, Perdue began buying stock in one of the regional banks that stood to benefit from the legislation: Regions Financial Corporation. This, according to his financial disclosures.
- Professor Edward Queen is a faculty member at the Emory Center for Ethics. “The failure of legislators to regulate and control themselves is a driving factor I would argue in the decrease in trust in the political process in the United States.
- Perdue’s spokesperson told us “Sen. Perdue doesn’t handle the day-to-day decisions of his portfolio – all of his holdings are managed by outside financial advisors.” Though the New York Times, quoting an anonymous source earlier reported, “Perdue retained some degree of discretion over which trades were made and when.”
- According to Perdue’s financial disclosures, between May of 2017 and November of 2017 when a possible bill to help banks like Regions was publicly announced, Perdue bought between $11,000 and $165,000 worth of Regions Financial Corporation Stock.
- The new law meant only the country’s largest banks — deemed “too big to fail” — would have their balance sheets scrutinized by the Fed, easing rules and regulations on smaller banks like Regions Financial Corporation.
- Perdue continued to buy Regions’ stock. In total, between May of 2017 and December of 2018 he bought Regions stock 26 times.
- In October of 2019, Perdue sold thousands of those shares of Regions stock. According to his disclosure report, the two day sell off was valued between $115,002 – $300,000.
- Professor Queen thinks these kind of issues would disappear if all legislators put their holdings in a blind trust.
- “People have to believe that the people’s representatives are acting in a way that is for the good of the American public and not arguably for their own good,” said Queen.
# # #
