This bill, titled the "Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act," seeks to amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, by establishing a ban on transactions involving certain financial instruments for Members of Congress and their spouses. The prohibition covers investments in securities, security futures, commodities, and comparable economic interests acquired through synthetic means like derivatives. However, the legislation explicitly excludes diversified mutual funds, diversified exchange-traded funds, and U.S. Treasury bills, notes, or bonds from this definition of "covered financial instrument."

Under the proposed law, Members of Congress and their spouses would be prohibited from holding, purchasing, or selling these covered financial instruments during the Member's term of service. For existing holdings, a divestment period of 180 days is provided, either from the date of the bill's enactment or from the start of a new Member's initial term. Non-compliance can result in the disgorgement of profits to the U.S. Treasury and the assessment of civil fines by the applicable supervising ethics committees.

The bill mandates that Members annually submit a written certification of compliance, which will be made publicly available. Supervising ethics committees are empowered to implement and enforce these requirements, including issuing rules, guidance, and granting extensions for good faith divestment efforts. Civil fines for continuing non-compliance, assessed every 30 days, would amount to 10 percent of the value of non-divested instruments, with opportunities for hearings and public disclosure of all fine assessments. Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is tasked with auditing compliance within two years of the bill's enactment and reporting its findings.