[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4213 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4213

 To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide for an annual 
   limit on the amount of certain fees which may be collected by the 
                  Securities and Exchange Commission.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 1998

  Mr. Solomon (for himself and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide for an annual 
   limit on the amount of certain fees which may be collected by the 
                  Securities and Exchange 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 ``Savings and Investment Relief Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. TRANSACTION FEES.

    Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78ee) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Limitation on Transaction Fees.--
            ``(1) Exchange traded and exchange registered securities.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Commission shall for each 
                fiscal year prescribe a limitation on the amount of 
                fees described in subsections (b) and (c) to be paid by 
                each national securities exchange and each national 
                securities association, based on the pro rata share of 
                the aggregate dollar amount of sales of securities 
                described in subsections (b) and (c) for the preceding 
                calendar year, such that the total fee payments will 
                not exceed--
                            ``(i) $150,000,000 during fiscal year 1999;
                            ``(ii) $155,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2000;
                            ``(iii) $165,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2001;
                            ``(iv) $170,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2002;
                            ``(v) $180,000,000 during fiscal year 2003;
                            ``(vi) $190,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2004;
                            ``(vii) $200,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2005; and
                            ``(viii) $210,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2006 and any succeeding fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Publication.--The Commission shall publish 
                annually in the Federal Register notice of the fee 
                limitations described in this paragraph.
                    ``(C) Fee adjustments.--Each national securities 
                exchange and each national securities association shall 
                adopt rules to implement the provisions of this 
                subsection. Such rules shall provide a reduction from 
                the fee amount otherwise described in subsections (b) 
                and (c), for all market participants, including (but 
                not limited to), individual investors, pension funds, 
                mutual fund investors, and market professionals.
            ``(2) Off-exchange trades of last-sale-reported 
        securities.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Commission shall for each 
                fiscal year prescribe a limitation on the amount of 
                fees described in subsection (d) to be paid by each 
                national securities association, based on the pro rata 
                share of the aggregate dollar amount of sales of 
                securities described in subsection (d) for the 
                preceding calendar year, such that the total fee 
                payments will not exceed--
                            ``(i) $120,000,000 during fiscal year 1999;
                            ``(ii) $125,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2000;
                            ``(iii) $135,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2001;
                            ``(iv) $140,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2002;
                            ``(v) $150,000,000 during fiscal year 2003;
                            ``(vi) $160,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2004;
                            ``(vii) $170,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2005; and
                            ``(viii) $180,000,000 during fiscal year 
                        2006 and any succeeding fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Publication.--The Commission shall publish 
                annually in the Federal Register notice of the fee 
                limitations described in this paragraph.
                    ``(C) Fee adjustments.--Each national securities 
                association shall adopt rules to implement the 
                provisions of this subsection. Such rules shall provide 
                a reduction from the fee amount otherwise described in 
                subsection (d), for all market participants, including, 
                but not limited to, individual investors, pension 
                funds, mutual fund investors, and market professionals.
            ``(3) Report to congress.--The Commission shall annually 
        report to Congress the total amount of fees collected pursuant 
        to subsection (b), by each national securities exchange, and 
        the total amount of fees collected pursuant to subsection (b), 
        by each national securities association.
            ``(4) Insufficient fees.--In any year in which the total 
        amount of fees collected under this section and section 6(b) of 
        the Securities Act of 1933 (including any balance in the 
        account providing appropriations to the Commission) are 
        insufficient to provide for the Commission's budget authority 
        as provided by an Appropriations Act, such Appropriations Act 
        may provide that the fee limitations shall be increased by 
        equal amounts under paragraphs (1) and (2), and all such 
        amounts shall be deposited and credited as offsetting 
        collections to the account providing appropriations to the 
        Commission.''.
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