[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1800 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1800
To amend the Investment Company Act of 1940 to allow business
development companies to purchase, otherwise acquire, or hold certain
securities, to change the asset coverage ratio and treatment of
preferred stock for business development companies, and to direct the
Securities and Exchange Commission to revise certain rules relating to
business development companies.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 26, 2013
Mr. Grimm (for himself and Mr. Graves of Georgia) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial
Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Investment Company Act of 1940 to allow business
development companies to purchase, otherwise acquire, or hold certain
securities, to change the asset coverage ratio and treatment of
preferred stock for business development companies, and to direct the
Securities and Exchange Commission to revise certain rules relating to
business development companies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Credit Availability
Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO PERMIT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES TO OWN
INVESTMENT ADVISERS.
Section 60 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-59)
is amended by striking ``except that the Commission shall not'' and
inserting the following:
``except that--
``(1) section 12 shall not apply to the purchasing,
otherwise acquiring, or holding by a business development
company of any security issued by, or any other interest in the
business of, any person who is an investment adviser registered
under title II of this Act or who is an investment adviser to
an investment company; and
``(2) the Commission shall not''.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO CAPITAL FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
COMPANIES.
Section 61(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-
60(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``200'' and inserting
``150'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or which is a stock''
after ``indebtedness''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Section 18(a)(2) shall not apply to a business
development company.''.
SEC. 4. PARITY FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES REGARDING OFFERING
AND PROXY RULES.
(a) Revision to Rules.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall
revise any rules to the extent necessary to allow a business
development company that has filed an election pursuant to section 54
of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-53) to use the
securities offering and proxy rules that are available to other issuers
that are required to file reports under section 13 or section 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m; 78o(d)). Any action
that the Commission takes pursuant to this subsection shall include the
following:
(1) The Commission shall revise rule 405 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.405)--
(A) to remove the exclusion of a business
development company from the definition of a well-known
seasoned issuer provided by that rule; and
(B) to add registration statements filed on Form N-
2 to the definition of automatic shelf registration
statement provided by that rule.
(2) The Commission shall revise rules 168 and 169 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.168 and 230.169) to
remove the exclusion of a business development company from an
issuer that can use the exemptions provided by those rules.
(3) The Commission shall revise rules 163 and 163A under
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.163 and 230.163A) to
remove a business development company from the list of issuers
that are ineligible to use the exemptions provided by those
rules.
(4) The Commission shall revise rule 134 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.134) to remove the
exclusion of a business development company from that rule.
(5) The Commission shall revise rules 138 and 139 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.138 and 230.139) to
specifically include a business development company as an
issuer to which those rules apply.
(6) The Commission shall revise rule 164 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.164) to remove a business
development company from the list of issuers that are excluded
from that rule.
(7) The Commission shall revise rule 433 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.433) to specifically
include a business development company that is a well-known
seasoned issuer as an issuer to which that rule applies.
(8) The Commission shall revise rule 415 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.415)--
(A) to state that the registration for securities
provided by that rule includes securities registered by
a business development company on Form N-2; and
(B) to provide an exception for a business
development company from the requirement that a Form N-
2 registrant must furnish the undertakings required by
item 34.4 of Form N-2.
(9) The Commission shall revise rule 497 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.497) to include a process
for a business development company to file a form of prospectus
that is parallel to the process for filing a form of prospectus
under rule 424(b).
(10) The Commission shall revise rules 172 and 173 under
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.172 and 230.173) to
remove the exclusion of an offering of a business development
company from those rules.
(11) The Commission shall revise rule 418 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.418) to provide that a
business development company that would otherwise meet the
eligibility requirements of General Instruction I.A of Form S-3
shall be exempt from paragraph (a)(3) of that rule.
(12) The Commission shall revise rule 14a-101 under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 C.F.R. 240.14a-101) to
provide that a business development company that would
otherwise meet the requirements of General Instruction I.A of
Form S-3 shall be deemed to meet the requirements of Form S-3
for purposes of Schedule 14A.
(13) The Commission shall revise rule 103 under Regulation
FD (17 C.F.R. 243.103) to provide that paragraph (a) of that
rule applies for purposes of Form N-2.
(b) Revision to Form N-2.--The Commission shall revise Form N-2--
(1) to include an item or instruction that is similar to
item 12 on Form S-3 to provide that a business development
company that would otherwise meet the requirements of Form S-3
shall incorporate by reference its reports and documents filed
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into its registration
statement filed on Form N-2; and
(2) to include an instruction (that is similar to the
instruction regarding automatic shelf offerings by well-known
seasoned issuers on Form S-3) to provide that a business
development company that is a well-known seasoned issuer may
file automatic shelf offerings on Form N-2.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Any reference in this section to a rule
or form means such rule or form or any successor rule or form.
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