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Committee Approves Economic Growth Bills


Washington, Jun 16 -

WASHINGTON – The Financial Services Committee today approved a series of bills that are designed to help boost economic growth as well as fight terror activity funded by Iran.

“Incomes are falling.  Wage growth is stagnating.  The number of Americans living in poverty has increased by nearly 7 million during the current administration.  I’m confident all of us on both sides of the aisle want that to change.  But if we truly want to ignite strong and lasting growth, we must help create more jobs and build a healthy economy.  The answer is not more debt, more spending and more regulations from Washington that hinder capital formation.  Instead, we need more entrepreneurs and more small businesses on Main Street,” said Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX).  “Our committee is focused on solutions that more appropriately balance rules with the urgent need to provide small business entrepreneurs with more options to access capital so they can start up, hire workers and grow their companies. We will remove duplicative burdens, reduce costs and support smart regulation that protects investors and maintains orderly and efficient markets – because this is key to economic growth.”

Below are the bills approved by the Committee today and their vote totals:

H.R. 4854, Supporting America’s Innovators Act of 2016

Sponsor: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)

The bill raises the limit on the number of individuals, from 100 to 250, who can invest in certain “qualified venture capital funds” before those funds must register as “investment companies” under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Currently, the Investment Company Act limits the number of investors in an investment company fund to 100 for the fund to be exempt from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The bill enhances angel investors’ ability to provide critical funding to small businesses and entrepreneurs in need of investment capital.

H.R. 4854 passed the committee 57-2. 



H.R. 4855, Fix Crowdfunding Act

Sponsor: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)

The bill makes important changes to address two urgent challenges that would deny small businesses the ability to economically benefit from Title III of the  Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act  (JOBS) Act, which allows for equity crowdfunding Specifically, H.R. 4855 increases financial thresholds in the Federal securities laws so as not to dissuade small businesses from using crowdfunding as a way to raise capital , and allows single purpose funds to utilize crowdfunding. 

H.R. 4855 passed the committee 57-2.



H.R. 5424, Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016

Sponsor: Rep. Robert Hurt (R-VA)

This bill updates portions of the Investment Advisers Act (IAA), a 76 year-old law, by removing duplicative and burdensome regulations that impose an unnecessary burden on small business’ access to capital.  

H.R. 5424 passed the committee 47-12.



H.R. 5461, Iranian Leadership Transparency Act

Sponsor: Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME)

The bill requires the Treasury Secretary to develop and post online a list estimating the “funds and assets” held by senior Iranian political and military leaders, along with a description of how they acquired the assets and how those assets are employed. The report would be posted on the Treasury Department’s website in English but also translated into the three main languages used inside Iran, and would be available in any of those forms in a way that is easy to download and share.

H.R. 5461 passed the committee 39-20.



H.R. 5421, National Securities Exchange Regulatory Parity Act of 2016

Sponsor: Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)

The bill amends the Securities Act of 1933, which exempts certain securities from individual state-by-state registration -- commonly known as the “blue sky” exemption.  It eliminates specific references to enumerated national securities exchanges and instead provides a blue sky exemption for any security listed on any national securities exchange registered with the SEC with approved listing standards. This change better reflects today’s markets.

H.R. 5421 passed the committee 47-12.



H.R. 5311, Corporate Governance Reform & Transparency Act of 2016

Sponsor: Reps. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and John Carney (D-DE)

The legislation requires SEC registration for proxy advisory firms, the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and a code of ethics, and the public availability  of proxy advisory firms  methodologies used to formulate proxy recommendations and analyses.

H.R. 5311 passed the committee 41-18.



H.R. 5143, Transparent Insurance Standards Act of 2016

Sponsor: Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)

The bill enhances Congress’s oversight of international deliberations relating to insurance standards. Specifically, the legislation establishes a series of requirements to be met before the Federal Insurance Office or the Federal Reserve may agree to, accept, establish, enter into or consent to the adoption of a final international insurance standard.

H.R. 5143 passed the committee 34-25.



H.R. 4850, Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act

Sponsor: Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN)

The bill amends the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt certain micro-offerings from the Act’s registration requirements.  H.R. 4850 would allow small businesses to operate with confidence that they are not in violation of the law when making a non-public securities offering if all of the following requirements are met: Each purchaser has a substantive pre-existing relationship with an owner; there are 35 or fewer purchasers; and the amount does not exceed $500,000.

H.R. 4850 passed the committee 34-25.



H.R. 4852, Private Placement Improvement Act of 2016

Sponsor: Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)

Title II of the JOBS Act removed the ban on general solicitation or advertising for SEC Regulation D offerings.  Unfortunately, the SEC proposed rules that would have a chilling effect on the changes made by the JOBS Act.  The bill directs the SEC to revise Regulation D in six meaningful ways to facilitate capital formation in Regulation D offerings.

H.R. 4852 passed the committee 33-26.



H.R. 5429, SEC Regulatory Accountability Act

Sponsor: Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)

The bill requires the SEC to follow the President’s Executive Order 13579, which outlines enhanced cost-benefit analysis requirements as well as requires a review of existing regulations.

H.R. 5429 passed the committee 34-25.

 

H.R. 5322, U.S. Territories Investor Protection Act of 2016

Sponsor: Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)

The bill provides a three-year safe harbor for certain investment companies that currently enjoy an exemption in Section 6(a) to become compliant with the Investment Company Act of 1940 and l authorizes the SEC to further delay the effective date (or end of the exemption) for a maximum of three years following the initial safe harbor.

H.R. 5322 passed the committee 59-0.



H.R. 4538, Senior$afe Act of 2016

Sponsors: Reps. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Bruce Poliquin (R-ME)

The bill helps identify, report and stop financial abuse of senior citizens.  Specifically, it provides that banks, credit unions, investment advisers and broker-dealers and their employees would be protected from civil or administrative liability as long as employees receive training in how to spot and report predatory activity and disclose any possible exploitation of senior citizens with reasonable care.  Current privacy laws make it difficult for these entities to report any potentially fraudulent activity.

H.R. 4538 passed the committee 59-0.