HR 2308 IH

Union Calendar No. 317CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

112th CONGRESSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

2d SessionCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

H. R. 2308CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

[Report No. 112-453]CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To improve the consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the costs and benefits of its regulations and orders.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

June 23, 2011CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mr. GARRETT (for himself, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. JONES, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. DOLD, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. HURT, Mr. CANSECO, and Mr. YODER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial ServicesCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

April 25, 2012CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Additional sponsors: Mr. GRIMM, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, and Mr. BISHOP of UtahCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

April 25, 2012CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printedCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

---

A BILLCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To improve the consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the costs and benefits of its regulations and orders.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘SEC Regulatory Accountability Act’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ITS REGULATIONS AND ORDERCERTAIN OTHER AGENCY ACTIONS.

Section 23 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78w) is amended by adding at the end the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(e) Consideration of Costs and Benefits- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) IN GENERAL- Before promulgatissuing a regulation under the securities laws, as defined in section 3(a), or issuing any order pursuant to such laws, the Commission shall-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) clearly identify the nature and source of the problem that the proposed regulation is designed to address, as well as assess the significance of that problem, to enable assessment of whether any new regulation is warranted; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) utilize the Office of the Chief Economist to assess the costs and benefits, both qualitative and quantitative, of the intended regulation or order and propose or adopt a regulation or order only on a reasoned determination that the benefits of the intended regulation or order justify the costs of the intended regulation or order; and‘(C) ensure regulation; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) identify and assess available alternatives to the regulation that any regulation or orderwere considered, including modification of an existing regulation, together with an explanation of why the regulation meets the regulatory objectives more effectively than the alternatives; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) ensure that any regulation is accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand and shall measure, and seek to improve, the actual results of regulatory requirements. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS AND ACTIONS- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) REQUIRED ACTIONS- In deciding whether and how to regulate, the Commission shall assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives, including the alternative of not regulating. In addition, the Commission may also take the following actions in making a reasoned determination of the costs and benefits of a potential regulation, and choose the approach that maximizes net benefits. Specifically, the Commission shall-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) assess the best ways of protecting market participants and the public;

‘(B) take into consideration investor choice;

‘(C) consider the impact on capital formation;

‘(D) evaluate the effect on thi) consistent with the requirements of section 3(f) (15 U.S.C. 78c(f)), section 2(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77b(b)), section 202(c) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-2(c)), and section 2(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-2(c)), consider whether the rulemaking will promote efficiency, competitiveness, and financial integrity of securities markets;

‘(E) consider the impact on market liquidity in the securities markets;

‘(F) take into consideration price discovery;

‘(Gon, and capital formation; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink




‘(ii) evaluate sound risk management practices;

‘(H) evaluate the degree and nature of the risks posed by various activities within the scope of its jurisdiction;

‘(I) determine whether, consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives, the regulation is tailored to impose the least burden on society, including market participants, individuals, businesses of differing sizes, and other entities (including State and local governmental entities), taking into account, to the extent practicable, the cumulative costs of regulations;‘(J) determine whether the regulation is and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink




‘(iii) evaluate whether the regulation is inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative of other Federal regulations; and‘(K) determine whether, in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches,. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS- In addition, in making a reasoned determination of the costs and benefits of a potential regulation, the Commission shall, to the extent that each is relevant to the particular proposed regulation, take into consideration the impact of the regulation on-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) investor choice; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) market liquidity in the securities markets; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) small businesses CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) EXPLANATION AND COMMENTS- The Commission shall explain in its final rule the nature of comments that it received, including those approaches maximize net benefits.‘(3from the industry or consumer groups concerning the potential costs or benefits of the proposed rule or proposed rule change, and shall provide a response to those comments in its final rule, including an explanation of any changes that were made in response to those comments and the reasons that the Commission did not incorporate those industry group concerns related to the potential costs or benefits in the final rule. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(4) REVIEW OF EXISTING REGULATIONS- The Commission Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the Commission shall periodically review its regulations and orders in effect before the date of enactment of this subsection to determine whether any such regulations or orders are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and shall modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with such review. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(5) POST-ADOPTION IMPACT ASSESSMENT- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) IN GENERAL- Whenever the Commission adopts or amends a regulation designated as a ‘major rule’ within the meaning ofsection 804(2) of title 5, United States Code, it shall state, in its adopting release, the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) The purposes and intended consequences of the regulation. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) Appropriate post-implementation quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure the economic impact of the regulation and to measure the extent to which the regulation has accomplished the stated purposes. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) The assessment plan that will be used, consistent with the requirements of subparagraph (B) and under the supervision of the Chief Economist of the Commission, to assess whether the regulation has achieved the stated purposes. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iv) Any unintended or negative consequences that the Commission foresees may result from the regulation. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) REQUIREMENTS OF ASSESSMENT PLAN AND REPORT- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN- The assessment plan required under this paragraph shall consider the costs, benefits, and intended and unintended consequences of the regulation. The plan shall specify the data to be collected, the methods for collection and analysis of the data and a date for completion of the assessment. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF REPORT- The Chief Economist shall submit the completed assessment report to the Commission no later than 2 years after the publication of the adopting release, unless the Commission, at the request of the Chief Economist, has published at least 90 days before such date a notice in the Federal Register extending the date and providing specific reasons why an extension is necessary. Within 7 days after submission to the Commission of the final assessment report, it shall be published in the Federal Register for notice and comment. Any material modification of the plan, as necessary to assess unforeseen aspects or consequences of the regulation, shall be promptly published in the Federal Register for notice and comment. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) DATA COLLECTION NOT SUBJECT TO NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIREMENTS- If the Commission has published its assessment plan for notice and comment, specifying the data to be collected and method of collection, at least 30 days prior to adoption of a final regulation or amendment, such collection of data shall not be subject to the notice and comment requirements insection 3506(c) of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Paperwork Reduction Act). Any material modifications of the plan that require collection of data not previously published for notice and comment shall also be exempt from such requirements if the Commission has published notice for comment in the Federal Register of the additional data to be collected, at least 30 days prior to initiation of data collection. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iv) FINAL ACTION- Not later than 180 days after publication of the assessment report in the Federal Register, the Commission shall issue for notice and comment a proposal to amend or rescind the regulation, or publish a notice that the Commission has determined that no action will be taken on the regulation. Such a notice will be deemed a final agency action. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(6) COVERED REGULATIONS AND OTHER AGENCY ACTIONS- Solely as used in this subsection, the term ‘regulation’-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) means an agency statement of general applicability and future effect that is designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to describe the procedure or practice requirements of an agency, including rules, orders of general applicability, interpretive releases, and other statements of general applicability that the agency intends to have the force and effect of law; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) does not include-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) a regulation issued in accordance with the formal rulemaking provisions of section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States Code; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) a regulation that is limited to agency organization, management, or personnel matters; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) a regulation promulgated pursuant to statutory authority that expressly prohibits compliance with this provision; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iv) a regulation that is certified by the agency to be an emergency action, if such certification is published in the Federal Register.’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN FOR SUBJECTING OTHER REGULATORY ENTITIES TO COST AND BENEFIT REQUIREMENTS.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall provide to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report setting forth a plan for subjecting the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and any national securities association registered under section 15A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o-4(a)) to the requirements subsection (e) of section 23 of such Act, as added by this Act. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Union Calendar No. 317CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

112th CONGRESSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

2d SessionCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

H. R. 2308CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

[Report No. 112-453]CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

A BILLCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To improve the consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the costs and benefits of its regulations and orders.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

---

April 25, 2012CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printedCommentsClose CommentsPermalink