After the recent financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank; P.L. 111-203 ), a wide-ranging package of regulatory reform legislation. Some provisions mandated new securities regulations expanding required corporate disclosures to the SEC and the investing public. In subsequent congressional sessions, some Members have depicted various provisions of the act, including several requiring new corporate disclosures, as excessive regulation. Enacted in the 112 th Congress, the Jumpstart Our Businesses Startup Act of 2012 (JOBS Act; P.L. 112-106 ) generally reflected a different regulatory strategy than did Dodd-Frank. The 114 th Congress is currently considering securities legislation that in many instances would extend the JOBS Act's focus on providing corporate regulatory relief to foster capital formation. This report examines selected securities-related legislation that has been marked up by committee or has seen floor action in the 114 th Congress. 1334 (which passed the House on July 14, 2015), Section 601 of S. 1484 , and Section 971 of S. 1910 . Require the SEC to evaluate and vote on all "significant regulations" within the first 5 years after enactment and then every 10 years thereafter: H.R. Require the SEC to provide a legal safe harbor for research reports issued by brokers or dealers on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) so that these reports are not considered securities "offers" and thus proscribed under federal securities laws: H.R. Amend the SEC's Form S-3 registration statement to give smaller reporting companies greater access to that shelf registration protocol (registering a new securities issue in advance so that later it can be quickly offered to the public during favorable market conditions): H.R. 114-94, Title LXXXV; H.R. 37, Title III; H.R. Modernizing SEC Disclosures (P.L. H.R. H.R. H.R. H.R. 3032 would repeal the requirement that the SEC annually report to Congress on the number of times that it sought the customer records of financial institutions. H.R. H.R. In July 2013, as required by the JOBS Act, the SEC adopted rules that lifted the historical ban on general solicitation and advertising (public marketing) of private placements under Rule 506 of Reg D. 
As part of this, the agency also issued a separate proposal that would subject issuers using the Reg D exemption to additional requirements, including (1) requiring issuers to file a single Form D (i.e., the document issuers file with the SEC to facilitate the Reg D exemption) no later than 15 days after the first sale of securities in an offering (as currently required) and an additional Form D filing at least 15 days before engaging in general solicitation for an offering and updated information on their Form D filing within 30 days of completing an offering; (2) disqualifying an issuer for one year from obtaining a Reg D Form 506 exemption if the company has not complied with earlier Form D filing requirements for a Rule 506 offering; (3) requiring issuers adhere to certain cautionary statements in general solicitation materials used in a Rule 506 offerings to alert potential investors that an offering is confined to accredited investors and that such offerings may have certain risks; and (4) extending Rule 156 under the Securities Act of 1933, which gives guidance regarding the sales literature provided by SEC-registered investment companies, such as mutual funds, that could be fraudulent or misleading to the literature provided by private funds (such as hedge funds, venture capital funds, and private equity funds). 4852 as reported by the House Financial Services Committee ( H.Rept. H.R. Regulatory Relief for Investment Advisers (H.R. H.R. 114-504 ). H.R. H.R. 5421 ( H.Rept. 5424 ( H.Rept.
In the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act; P.L. 111-203), a wide-ranging package of regulatory reform legislation. Some provisions mandated new securities regulations that expanded required corporate disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the investing public. Some Members of Congress have characterized provisions of the act, including several requiring additional corporate disclosures, as excessive regulation.
Enacted in the 112th Congress, the Jumpstart Our Businesses Startup Act of 2012 (JOBS Act; P.L. 112-106) generally reflected a different regulatory strategy than did the Dodd-Frank Act. The legislation was broadly aimed at stimulating corporate capital formation, particularly for newer and smaller firms. It largely attempts to do so by giving such firms regulatory relief from various SEC disclosures generally required by federal securities laws.
Congress is currently considering securities legislation that in many instances would extend the JOBS Act's focus on corporate regulatory relief. The securities bills examined in this report have been reported by committee or have been approved in floor action in the 114th Congress. Most attempt to foster capital formation, potentially trading off some disclosure-based investor protections. Such bills include the following:
H.R. 22/P.L. 114-94 (Titles LXXIIV, LXXIV, LXXXI, and LXXXV) H.R. 37 (Titles III, VI, VII, IX, X, XI; passed the House) H.R. 414 (H.Rept. 114-504) H.R. 1334 (passed the House) H.R. 2064 (passed the House) H.R. 432 (passed the House) H.R. 1525 (passed the House) H.R. 1675 (H.Rept. 114-398) H.R. 1723 (passed the House) H.R. 1839 (passed the House) H.R. 1965 (H.Rept. 114-399) S. 1484 (Sections 601, 602, 604; reported from the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee without written report) S. 1910 (Sections 971, 972, 974; S.Rept. 114-97)
In addition to bills that reduce disclosure requirements, a number of other bills addressing securities regulation have been reported from committee or taken up on the floor. H.R. 1975 would require the agency to award certain SEC-regulated trading-related entities (such as NASDAQ) future credit for earlier excessive fees that they paid the agency. H.R. 2354 would require the SEC to evaluate and vote on all "significant regulations" within the first 5 years after enactment and then every 10 years thereafter. H.R. 2356 would require the SEC to provide a legal safe harbor for research reports issued by brokers or dealers on Exchange Traded Funds. H.R. 2357 would amend the SEC's Form S-3 (shelf) registration statement to give companies with public floats (i.e., regular shares that a company has issued to the public and are available for investor trades) below $75 million greater access to that registration protocol. H.R. 3032 would repeal a requirement that the SEC annually report to Congress on how often it sought financial institutions' customer records.