[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8239 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8239
To improve the consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission
of the costs and benefits of regulations and orders of the Commission.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 2, 2024
Mrs. Wagner (for herself, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Meuser,
Mr. Huizenga, and Mr. Emmer) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission
of the costs and benefits of regulations and orders of the Commission.
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 ``SEC Regulatory Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF THE
COSTS AND BENEFITS OF REGULATIONS AND CERTAIN OTHER
AGENCY ACTIONS OF THE COMMISSION.
Section 23 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78w)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Consideration of Costs and Benefits.--
``(1) Considerations before proposing a regulation.--Before
proposing a regulation, the Commission shall--
``(A) clearly identify the nature and source of the
problem that the regulation is designed to address, as
well as assess the significance of that problem, to
enable assessment of whether any new regulation is
warranted; and
``(B) ensure that the regulation would be within
the Commission's jurisdiction and that the Commission
has sufficient experience and expertise to regulate the
subject matter covered by the regulation.
``(2) Requirements for issuing a proposed or final
regulation.--
``(A) In general.--In issuing a proposed or final
regulation, the Commission shall--
``(i) clearly identify the market
participants who will be impacted by the
regulation;
``(ii) utilize the Chief Economist of the
Commission to assess the costs and benefits,
both qualitative and quantitative, of the
regulation, both on the regulation's own and
cumulatively with other existing and proposed
regulations;
``(iii) only issue the regulation if the
Commission makes a reasoned determination that
the benefits of the regulation justify the
costs of the regulation;
``(iv) identify and assess available
alternatives to the regulation that were
considered, including modification of an
existing regulation;
``(v) ensure that the regulation is
accessible, consistent, written in plain
language, and easy to understand; and
``(vi) ensure that the length of the public
comment period is commensurate with the
complexity of the regulation and the expected
public interest in the rulemaking.
``(B) Inclusion of information in a proposed or
final regulation.--In issuing a proposed or final
regulation, the Commission shall include in the
regulation--
``(i) the results of the identifications
and assessments required under clauses (i) and
(ii) of subparagraph (A) with respect to the
regulation;
``(ii) an explanation of why the regulation
meets the regulatory objectives of the
Commission more effectively than other
available alternatives, including modification
of an existing regulation;
``(iii) a description of how the Commission
intends the regulation to interact with
existing regulations and proposed regulations;
and
``(iv) a justification of the length of the
public comment period for the regulation.
``(3) Considerations and actions.--
``(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, and choose
the approach that maximizes net benefits. Specifically,
the Commission shall--
``(i) 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 a
rulemaking (both on the regulation's own and
cumulatively with other existing and proposed
regulations), in addition to being in the
interest of protecting investors, will promote
efficiency, competition, and capital formation;
``(ii) evaluate whether, consistent with
obtaining regulatory objectives, a regulation
(both on the regulation's own and cumulatively
with other existing and proposed regulations)
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; and
``(iii) evaluate whether a regulation is
inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative of
other Federal regulations.
``(B) Additional considerations.--In addition, in
making a reasoned determination under paragraph
(2)(A)(iii) of the costs and benefits of a regulation,
the Commission shall, to the extent that each is
relevant to the particular regulation, take into
consideration the impact of the regulation on--
``(i) investor choice;
``(ii) market liquidity in the securities
markets;
``(iii) small businesses;
``(iv) competition in the marketplace;
``(v) investor access; and
``(vi) the United States economic
competitiveness.
``(4) Post-adoption impact assessment.--
``(A) In general.--Whenever the Commission issues a
final regulation that is a `major rule' (as defined
under section 804 of title 5, United States Code), it
shall state, in the regulation, the following:
``(i) The purposes and intended
consequences of the regulation.
``(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.
``(iii) The assessment plan that will be
used, consistent with the requirements of
subparagraph (B) and under the supervision of
the Chief Economist, to assess whether the
regulation has achieved the stated purposes.
``(iv) Any unintended or negative
consequences that the Commission foresees may
result from the regulation.
``(B) Requirements of assessment plan and report.--
``(i) Requirements of plan.--For each
regulation described under subparagraph (A),
the Chief Economist shall establish an
assessment plan, which shall--
``(I) consider the costs, benefits,
and intended and unintended
consequences of the regulation;
``(II) specify the data to be
collected, the methods for collection
and analysis of the data, and a date
for completion of the assessment; and
``(III) include an analysis of any
jobs added or lost as a result of the
regulation, differentiating between
public and private sector jobs.
``(ii) Timing of assessment plan report.--A
report on each completed assessment plan
described under clause (i) shall be submitted
by the Chief Economist to the Commission not
later than the end of the 4-year period
beginning on the date the applicable regulation
is issued, unless the Commission, at the
request of the Chief Economist, publishes at
least 90 days before the end of such period a
notice in the Federal Register extending the
date and providing specific reasons why an
extension is necessary.
``(iii) Public comment.--Not later than 7
days after the Commission receives an
assessment plan report under clause (ii), the
Commission shall publish the report in the
Federal Register for public comment.
``(5) Regulation defined.--In this subsection, the term
`regulation'--
``(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
``(B) does not include--
``(i) a regulation issued in accordance
with the formal rulemaking provisions of
section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States
Code;
``(ii) a regulation that is limited to
agency organization, management, or personnel
matters;
``(iii) a regulation promulgated pursuant
to statutory authority that expressly prohibits
compliance with this provision; and
``(iv) a regulation that is certified by
the agency to be an emergency action, if such
certification is published in the Federal
Register.''.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO OTHER REGULATORY ENTITIES.
It is the sense of the Congress that the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board should also follow the requirements of section 23(e) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as added by section 2.
SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISION RELATING TO OTHER REGULATORY ENTITIES.
A rule adopted by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board or any
national securities association registered under section 15A of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o-3) shall not take effect
unless the Securities and Exchange Commission determines that, in
adopting such rule, the Board or association has complied with the
requirements of section 23(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as added by section 2, in the same manner as is required by the
Commission under such section 23(e).
<all>