Legislation being led by U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) seeks to increase accountability at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC Reform and Restructuring Act, which the congresswoman sponsored as a comprehensive legislative package, includes provisions that are divided into multiple bills in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The SEC Reform and Restructuring Act will prioritize investor protection and eliminate onerous and ineffective programs, support more accessible regulations that make sense, and ensure that the SEC is accountable to the people, not government bureaucrats who think they know best,” Rep. Wagner said on June 18.
The provisions in the SEC Reform and Restructuring Act include three bills sponsored by Rep. Wagner, including the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act; the SEC Transparency Act; and the SEC Cybersecurity Act.
The SEC Regulatory Accountability Act would require the SEC to identify the need for a regulation before proposing it, evaluate reasonable alternatives, conduct rigorous economic analysis, and determine that a rule’s benefits justify its costs. As TITLE I in the larger package, it also would require retrospective review of major rules following implementation.
The SEC Transparency Act would become TITLE II in the package and would require the SEC chairman to testify before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and the U.S. Senate Banking Committee at least once every six months, and would require all commissioners to participate in at least one such hearing annually.
The SEC Cybersecurity Act as TITLE III would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct an independent review of the SEC’s information technology infrastructure, cybersecurity practices, data handling procedures, and related contracting activities, and report its findings to Congress, according to a summary provided by Rep. Wagner’s office.
“The Biden administration’s SEC imposed a top-down regulatory process that made it much more challenging for employers to raise money and for families to invest,” said Rep. Wagner. “It has been a full-time job working with our current chair of the SEC Paul Atkins to dig ourselves out of that hole and build a smoother, more effective, and more accountable process so hard-working Americans can focus on what matters: saving for a better future.”