[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2374 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2374

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide protections for 
               retail customers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 14, 2013

 Mrs. Wagner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide protections for 
               retail customers, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Retail Investor Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. STAY ON RULES DEFINING CERTAIN FIDUCIARIES.

    After the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 
shall not prescribe any regulation under the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) defining the 
circumstances under which an individual is considered a fiduciary until 
the date that is 60 days after the Securities and Exchange Commission 
issues a final rule relating to standards of conduct for brokers and 
dealers pursuant to the second subsection (k) of section 15 of the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o(k)).

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.

    The second subsection (k) of section 15 of the Securities Exchange 
Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o(k)), as added by section 913(g)(1) of the 
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 
5301 et seq.), is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Requirements prior to rulemaking.--The Commission 
        shall not promulgate a rule pursuant to paragraph (1) before--
                    ``(A) identifying if retail customers (and such 
                other customers as the Commission may by rule provide) 
                are being systematically harmed or disadvantaged due to 
                brokers or dealers operating under different standards 
                of conduct than those standards that apply to 
                investment advisors under section 211 of the Investment 
                Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-11);
                    ``(B) identifying whether the adoption of a uniform 
                fiduciary standard of care for brokers or dealers and 
                investment advisors would adversely impact retail 
                investor access to personalized investment advice, 
                recommendations about securities, or the availability 
                of such advice and recommendations;
                    ``(C) conducting an assessment by the chief 
                economist of the Commission that assesses the 
                qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits of the 
                rule; and
                    ``(D) the Commission, based on the assessment 
                described in subparagraph (B)--
                            ``(i) determines that the benefits of the 
                        rule justify its costs;
                            ``(ii) identifies and assesses available 
                        alternatives to the rule that were considered, 
                        including modification of an existing 
                        regulation, simplification of disclosures 
                        regarding standards of care that apply to 
                        brokers or dealers and those that apply to 
                        investment advisors, together with an 
                        explanation of why the rule meets the 
                        regulatory objectives more effectively than the 
                        alternatives; and
                            ``(iii) ensures that the rule is 
                        accessible, consistent, written in plain 
                        language, and easy to understand, and that the 
                        rule shall measure and seek to improve the 
                        actual results of regulatory requirements.
            ``(4) Requirements for promulgating a rule.--The Commission 
        shall publish in the Federal Register alongside the rule 
        promulgated pursuant to paragraph (1) formal findings that such 
        rule would reduce the confusion of a retail customer (and such 
        other customers as the Commission may by rule provide) about 
        standards of conduct applicable to brokers, dealers, and 
        investment advisors.
            ``(5) Requirements under investment advisers act of 1940.--
        In proposing rules under paragraph (1) for brokers or dealers, 
        the Commission shall consider the differences in the 
        registration, supervision, and examination requirements 
        applicable to brokers, dealers, and investment advisors.''.
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