[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4638 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 474
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4638
[Report No. 114-609]
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to allow for the creation
of venture exchanges to promote liquidity of venture securities, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 26, 2016
Mr. Garrett (for himself and Mr. Chabot) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
June 8, 2016
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 26, 2016]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to allow for the creation
of venture exchanges to promote liquidity of venture securities, and
for other purposes.
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 ``Main Street Growth Act''.
SEC. 2. VENTURE EXCHANGES.
(a) Securities Exchange Act of 1934.--Section 6 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78f) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(m) Venture Exchange.--
``(1) Registration.--
``(A) In general.--A national securities exchange
may elect to be treated (or for a listing tier of such
exchange to be treated) as a venture exchange by
notifying the Commission of such election, either at
the time the exchange applies to be registered as a
national securities exchange or after registering as a
national securities exchange.
``(B) Determination time period.--With respect to a
securities exchange electing to be treated (or for a
listing tier of such exchange to be treated) as a
venture exchange--
``(i) at the time the exchange applies to
be registered as a national securities
exchange, such application and election shall
be deemed to have been approved by the
Commission unless the Commission denies such
application before the end of the 6-month
period beginning on the date the Commission
received such application; and
``(ii) after registering as a national
securities exchange, such election shall be
deemed to have been approved by the Commission
unless the Commission denies such approval
before the end of the 6-month period beginning
on the date the Commission received
notification of such election.
``(2) Powers and restrictions.--A venture exchange--
``(A) may only constitute, maintain, or provide a
market place or facilities for bringing together
purchasers and sellers of venture securities;
``(B) may determine the increment to be used for
quoting and trading venture securities on the exchange;
``(C) shall disseminate last sale and quotation
information on terms that are fair and reasonable and
not unreasonably discriminatory;
``(D) may choose to carry out periodic auctions for
the sale of a venture security instead of providing
continuous trading of the venture security; and
``(E) may not extend unlisted trading privileges to
any venture security.
``(3) Exemptions from certain national security exchange
regulations.--A venture exchange shall not be required to--
``(A) comply with any of sections 242.600 through
242.612 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations;
``(B) comply with any of sections 242.300 through
242.303 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations;
``(C) submit any data to a securities information
processor; or
``(D) use decimal pricing.
``(4) Treatment of certain exempted securities.--A security
that is exempt from registration pursuant to section 3(b) of
the Securities Act of 1933 shall be exempt from section 12(a)
of this title with respect to the trading of such security on a
venture exchange, if the issuer of such security is in
compliance with all disclosure obligations of such section 3(b)
and the regulations issued under such section.
``(5) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
``(A) Early-stage, growth company.--
``(i) In general.--The term `early-stage,
growth company' means an issuer--
``(I) that has not made an initial
public offering of any securities of
the issuer; and
``(II) with a market capitalization
of $1,000,000,000 (as such amount is
indexed for inflation every 5 years by
the Commission to reflect the change in
the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, setting the threshold
to the nearest $1,000,000) or less.
``(ii) Treatment when market capitalization
exceeds threshold.--
``(I) In general.--In the case of
an issuer that is an early-stage,
growth company the securities of which
are traded on a venture exchange, such
issuer shall not cease to be an early-
stage, growth company by reason of the
market capitalization of such issuer
exceeding the threshold specified in
clause (i)(II) until the end of the
period of 24 consecutive months during
which the market capitalization of such
issuer exceeds $2,000,000,000 (as such
amount is indexed for inflation every 5
years by the Commission to reflect the
change in the Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, setting the
threshold to the nearest $1,000,000).
``(II) Exemptions.--If an issuer
would cease to be an early-stage,
growth company under subclause (I), the
venture exchange may, at the request of
the issuer, exempt the issuer from the
market capitalization requirements of
this subparagraph for the 1-year period
that begins on the day after the end of
the 24-month period described in such
subclause. The venture exchange may, at
the request of the issuer, extend the
exemption for 1 additional year.
``(B) Venture security.--The term `venture
security' means--
``(i) securities of an early-stage, growth
company that are exempt from registration
pursuant to section 3(b) of the Securities Act
of 1933; and
``(ii) securities of an emerging growth
company.''.
(b) Securities Act of 1933.--Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act
of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77r(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) a venture security, as defined under section
6(m)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.''.
(c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that the
Securities and Exchange Commission should--
(1) when necessary or appropriate in the public interest
and consistent with the protection of investors, make use of
the Commission's general exemptive authority under section 36
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78mm) with
respect to the provisions added by this section; and
(2) if the Commission determines appropriate, create an
Office of Venture Exchanges within the Commission's Division of
Trading and Markets.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section or the
amendments made by this section shall be construed to impair or limit
the construction of the antifraud provisions of the securities laws (as
defined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15
U.S.C. 78c(a))) or the authority of the Securities and Exchange
Commission under those provisions.
(e) Effective Date for Tiers of Existing National Securities
Exchanges.--In the case of a securities exchange that is registered as
a national securities exchange under section 6 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78f) on the date of the enactment of
this Act, any election for a listing tier of such exchange to be
treated as a venture exchange under subsection (m) of such section
shall not take effect before the date that is 180 days after such date
of enactment.
Union Calendar No. 474
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4638
[Report No. 114-609]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to allow for the creation
of venture exchanges to promote liquidity of venture securities, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 8, 2016
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed