[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3693 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3693

   To prevent accountants from providing non-audit services to audit 
                                clients.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2002

   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prevent accountants from providing non-audit services to audit 
                                clients.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUDITOR PERFORMANCE OF NON-AUDIT FUNCTIONS.

    Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Auditor Independence.--
            ``(1) Non-audit services prohibited for audit clients.--The 
        Commission shall, by rule, prohibit an accountant from being 
        treated as independent with respect to an issuer for the 
        purposes of certifying any financial statement required to be 
        filed with the Commission under the securities laws if the 
        accountant performs non-audit services for such issuer or an 
        affiliate of such issuer.
            ``(2) Commission to define non-audit services.--Consistent 
        with the protection of investors and the public interest, the 
        Commission shall define the term `non-audit services' for 
        purposes of this subsection.
            ``(3) Deadline for rulemaking.--The Commission shall 
        prescribe regulations to implement this subsection within 90 
        days after the date of enactment of this subsection.
            ``(4) Securities laws.--As used in this subsection, the 
        term ``securities laws'', notwithstanding section 3(a)(47), 
        means the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.), the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.), the 
        Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (15 U.S.C. 77aaa et seq.), the 
        Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.), the 
        Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b et seq.), and 
        the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 78aaa 
        et seq.).''.
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