[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9477 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9477

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to reviewable 
  actions taken pursuant to delegated functions of the Securities and 
              Exchange Commission, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 6, 2024

 Mr. Meuser (for himself and Mr. Steil) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to reviewable 
  actions taken pursuant to delegated functions of the Securities and 
              Exchange Commission, 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 ``SEC Regulatory Evaluation, 
Verification, and Integrity of Effective Workflows Act of 2024'' or the 
``SEC REVIEW Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. REVIEWABLE ACTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (b) of section 4A of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78d-1) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(1) denies'' and inserting ``(A) 
        denies'';
            (2) by striking ``(2) suspends'' and inserting ``(B) 
        suspends'';
            (3) by striking ``(3) is'' and inserting ``(C) is'';
            (4) by striking ``With'' and all that follows through 
        ``upon its own'' and inserting the following:
    ``(b) Reviewable Actions.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commission shall retain a 
        discretionary right to review a reviewable action upon its 
        own''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Reviewable action defined.--In this subsection, the 
        term `reviewable action' means any action delegated under 
        subsection (a) that results in--
                    ``(A) the issuance of any letter or any other 
                communication granting or denying a request for no-
                action relief in connection with a shareholder 
                proposal; or
                    ``(B) a rule (as defined in section 804 of title 5, 
                United States Code).''.
    (b) Approval of Reviewable Actions.--Section 4A of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78d-1) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(d) Approval of Reviewable Actions.--A reviewable action (as 
defined in subsection (b)) may only take effect--
            ``(1) with the signed approval of the Chairman; or
            ``(2) through agreement of the Chairman and Commissioners, 
        which may be reached without convening a meeting.
    ``(e) Circulation With Commission.--Upon request by a Commissioner, 
the Chairman of the Commission shall provide the Commissioner with--
            ``(1) copies of any signed approval under subsection (d)(1) 
        of a reviewable action; and
            ``(2) the record with respect to such reviewable action.
    ``(f) Annual Report on Reviewable Actions Relating to Shareholder 
Proposals.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection and annually thereafter, the Commission shall submit to 
the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, a 
report that includes--
            ``(1) a summary of each reviewable action described in 
        subsection (b)(2)(A) issued in the year preceding the report;
            ``(2) for a reviewable action in connection with a 
        shareholder proposal, an analysis of how such reviewable action 
        is carried out in accordance with the specific textual 
        requirement of section 240.14a-8 of title 17, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (or a successor regulation), and such analysis may 
        not include any discussion of how the action is carried out in 
        accordance with any guidance or other Commission 
        interpretations applicable to such rule;
            ``(3) an analysis of how such reviewable action--
                    ``(A) protects investors;
                    ``(B) maintains fair and orderly markets; or
                    ``(C) facilitates capital formation; and
            ``(4) an analysis of how the reviewable actions issued in 
        the year preceding the report did not discriminate on the basis 
        of viewpoint or political affiliation.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL ON DELEGATED FUNCTIONS.

    Not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and not later than 30 days after any change in the person or vacancy of 
the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereafter, the 
General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission shall submit 
to Congress a report that--
            (1) in the case of the first report, lists each function 
        delegated by the Commission pursuant to subsection (a) of 
        section 4A of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78d-1) as of the day 
        before the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) in the case of each subsequent report, lists each 
        function delegated by the Commission pursuant to such 
        subsection during the period beginning on the date the 
        preceding report was submitted.
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