As Fears of Banking Crisis Surged, Members of Congress Sold Bank Shares

On March 10, as fears were swirling over the health of the nation’s banks, an investment account belonging to the children of Representative Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, sold shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation worth $65,000 to $150,000.

Two days later, with the government working to control the crisis, Mr. Moskowitz said in a television interview that he had attended a bipartisan congressional briefing on the tumult. And on March 13, as investors fretted over the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and two other, smaller banks, Seacoast Banking shares fell nearly 20 percent.

A spokesman for Mr. Moskowitz said in an email that the Seacoast share sales had been suggested by the congressman’s financial adviser as a means to diversify his young children’s holdings. Mr. Moskowitz said the congressional briefing on the bank crisis had taken place just before the television interview and after the shares were sold.