The Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives earlier this year approved and sent to the US House for vote a package of bipartisan capital markets legislation to help America’s small business and entrepreneurs and to protect investors and the US capital markets. The legislative package, if approved by the House during this Congress, could be included in the “JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018,” also known as “JOBS Act 3.0,” which was approved by the US House of Representatives and sent to the US Senate with broad bipartisan support this past Summer of 2018.
This is the third article on the topic of JOBS Act 3.0 and follows article one and article 2 published yesterday regarding JOBS Act 3.0. Also, see the article here regarding the most significant pro-growth financial regulatory reform in nearly a generation.
H.R. 1645, Fostering Innovation Act – Sponsored by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and cosponsored by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN), the “Fostering Innovation Act of 2017” amends Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) to extend the exemption to comply with the law for certain low-revenue emerging growth companies (EGCs) that would otherwise lose their exempt status at the end of the five-year period that applies under current law.
The bill passed the Financial Services Committee with a bipartisan vote of 48-12 on October 12, 2017.
H.R. 6177, Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders (DEAL) Act – Sponsored by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN), the “DEAL Act” requires the SEC to revise the definition of a qualifying investment to include equity securities acquired in a secondary transaction.
The bill passed the Financial Services Committee on July 11, 2018 on voice vote.
H.R. 6319, Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act – Sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), the “Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act” requires the SEC to study whether the current diversified fund limit threshold for mutual funds constrains their ability to take meaningful positions in small-cap companies.
The Financial Services Committee passed the bill by voice vote on July 11, 2018.
H.R. 6320, Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act – Sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the “Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act” requires the SEC to consider certain types of amendments to Rule 10b5-1 to ensure that corporate insiders are not able to indirectly engage in illegal insider trading through changes to their trading plans.
The bill passed the Financial Services Committee on July 11, 2018 by voice vote.
H.R. 6321, Investment Adviser Regulatory Flexibility Improvement Act – Sponsored by Rep.
Gwen Moore (D-WI) and cosponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), the “Investment Adviser Regulatory Flexibility Improvement Act” directs the SEC to consider alternative methods for a business or an organization to qualify as a “small business” or “small organization” for the purposes of assessing the regulatory impact on investment advisers.
H.R. 6321 passed the Financial Services Committee by voice vote on July 11, 2018.
H.R. 6322, Enhancing Multi-Class Share Disclosures Act — Sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the “Enhancing Multi-Class Share Disclosures Act” requires issuers with a multi-class share structure to make certain disclosures in any proxy or consent solicitation material that provide enhanced transparency regarding certain shareholders’ voting power.
It passed the Financial Services Committee by voice vote on July 11, 2018.
H.R. 6323, National Senior Investor Initiative Act of 2018 – Sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and cosponsored by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN), the “National Senior Investor Initiative Act of 2018” or the “Senior Security Act of 2018” creates an interdivisional task force at the SEC, to examine and identify challenges facing senior investors and requires the Government Accountability Office to study the economic costs of the exploitation of senior citizens.
The Financial Services Committee passed the bill by voice vote on July 11, 2018.
H.R. 6324, Middle Market IPO Underwriting Cost Act – Sponsored by Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the “Middle Market IPO Underwriting Cost Act” requires the SEC, in consultation with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to study the direct and indirect costs associated with small and medium-sized companies to undertake initial public offerings.
The bill passed the Financial Services Committee on July 11, 2018 by voice vote.
H.R. 3555, Exchange Regulatory Improvement Act – Sponsored by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) and cosponsored by Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Gregory Meeks, (D-NY) and David Scott (D-GA), the “Exchange Regulatory Improvement Act,” as amended, requires the SEC to set forth the facts and circumstances it considers in determining what is a “facility” of an exchange.
The bill passed the Financial Services Committee on July 11, 2018 by voice vote.
H.R. 4281, Expanding Access to Capital for Job Creators Act – Sponsored by Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-NV) and cosponsored by Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), the “Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act” amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to have the SEC’s Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation identify any unique challenges to rural area small businesses when identifying problems that small businesses have with securing access to capital. H.R. 4281 also requires that the annual report made by the SEC’s Small Business Advocate include a summary of any unique issues encountered by rural area small businesses.
The bill passed the Financial Services Committee with unanimous bipartisan support, 60-0, on November 15, 2017.
Mr. Woessner’s bio appears here.