The House Financial Services Committee approved last week three bills targeting improved capital markets while increasing investment opportunities.
The Modernizing Disclosures for Investors Act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide a report to Congress with a cost-benefit analysis of emerging growth companies’ use of SEC Form 10-Q and recommendations for decreasing costs, increasing transparency and increasing efficiency of quarterly financial reporting by emerging growth companies.
The Helping Startups Continue to Grow Act expands the on-ramp for emerging growth companies by providing an additional five years of exemptions from certain disclosure requirements, per the Committee.
The third bill of note, the Improving Investment Research for Small and Emerging Issuers Act, requires the SEC to carry out a study to evaluate the issues affecting the provision of and reliance upon investment research into small issuers, including emerging growth companies and pre-IPO companies.
“If we want to truly sustain long-term 3 percent economic growth, then we must find ways to reduce regulatory burdens on our capital markets, which are vital to job creation and innovation,” Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) said. “These bills are a step in the right direction, and I thank members on both sides of the aisle for their hard work.”