Concerns around conflicts of interest come particularly as high-ranking officials have been shown to have profited from using confidential briefings to trade stocks during the early stages of Covid-19. While some experts argue that rules have failed to keep up with the investment industry over recent decades, the suggested exemptions from reporting rules are based on the belief that funds are diversified and difficult to exploit. However, according to former chief ethics lawyer for the Bush administration, Richard Painter, industry and country-specific funds create the same issues with respect to conflicts of interest and criminal insider trading that individual stocks do.
Problems with Congress not keeping up-to-date with industry changes are highlighted, and the White House remains subject to tighter restrictions on funds that concentrate on country-specific or particular sectors. There are growing concerns, however, over members of Congress investing their funds heavily in countries that are trading with the US with a principal task to grow the US economy. The calls for greater transparency are likely to continue as the push towards ESG continues to enhance the scrutiny of investment practices across the board.