Ethics probe targets Financial Services Committee chairman on insider trading

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee says he's cooperating with an Office of Government Ethics investigation into his stock trades and expects to be exonerated.

Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus says he welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight in the investigation, which is focused on insider trading. Bachus' powerful committee overseas the financial services industry.

Bachus says he fully abided by the rules governing members of Congress,

The Washington Post first reported that the independent ethics panel started its investigation last year because of suspicious trades on Bachus' annual financial disclosure forms.

Over the past week, both houses of Congress passed bills that would explicitly bar members of Congress and thousands of executive branch officials from insider trading, using nonpublic information learned on the job.

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