Selected Securities Legislation in the 114th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 7, 2016 |
| Report Number |
R44255 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Gary Shorter, Specialist in Financial Economics |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
In the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act; P.L. 111-203), a wide-ranging package of regulatory reform legislation. Some provisions mandated new securities regulations that expanded required corporate disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the investing public. Some Members of Congress have characterized provisions of the act, including several requiring additional corporate disclosures, as regulatorily excessive.
Enacted in the 112th Congress, the Jumpstart Our Businesses Startup Act of 2012 (JOBS Act; P.L. 112-106) generally reflected a different regulatory strategy than did the Dodd-Frank Act. The legislation was broadly aimed at stimulating corporate capital formation, particularly for newer and smaller firms. It largely attempts to do so by giving such firms regulatory relief from various SEC disclosures generally required by federal securities laws.
Congress is currently considering securities legislation that in many instances would extend the JOBS Act's focus on corporate regulatory relief. The securities bills examined in this report have been marked up by committee and reported to the floor or have been approved in floor action in the 114th Congress. Most attempt to foster capital formation, potentially trading off some disclosure-based investor protections. Such bills include the following:
H.R. 22, (Titles LXXIIV, LXXIV, LXXXI, and LXXXV; conference report approved by the House and the Senate)
H.R. 37 (Titles III, VI, VII, IX, X, XI; passed the House)
H.R. 414 (reported from the House Committee on Financial Services)
H.R. 1334 (passed the House)
H.R. 2064 (passed the House)
H.R. 432 (passed the House)
H.R. 1525 (passed the House)
H.R. 1675 (reported from the House Committee on Financial Services)
H.R. 1723 (passed the House)
H.R. 1839 (passed the House)
H.R. 1965 (reported from the House Committee on Financial Services)
S. 1484 (Sections 601, 602, 604; reported from the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee)
S. 1910 (Sections 971, 972, 974; reported from the Senate Committee on Appropriations)
In addition to bills that reduce disclosure requirements, a number of other bills addressing securities regulation have been reported from committee or taken up on the floor. H.R. 1975 would require the agency to award certain SEC-regulated trading-related entities (such as NASDAQ) future credit for earlier excessive fees that they paid the agency. H.R. 2354 would require the SEC to evaluate and vote on all "significant regulations" within the first 5 years after enactment and then every 10 years thereafter. H.R. 2356 would require the SEC to provide a legal safe harbor for research reports issued by brokers or dealers on Exchange Traded Funds. H.R. 2357 would amend the SEC's Form S-3 (shelf) registration statement to give companies with public floats (i.e., regular shares that a company has issued to the public and are available for investor trades) below $75 million greater access to that registration protocol. H.R. 3032 would repeal a requirement that the SEC annually report to Congress on how often it sought financial institutions' customer records.
