I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2187 

To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise its regulations 

regarding the qualifications of natural persons as accredited investors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. SCHWEIKERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise 

its regulations regarding the qualifications of natural 

persons as accredited investors. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Investment Op5 portunities for Professional Experts Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACCREDITED INVESTOR DEFINITION. 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall 

9 revise its rules under Regulation D (17 C.F.R. 230.501 

10 et seq.) to provide that a natural person shall be considVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 May 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187

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1 ered an accredited investor under such regulation notwith2 standing the income and net worth requirements in para3 graphs (5) and (6) of section 230.501(a) of title 17, Code 

4 of Federal Regulations, if such person certifies to the 

5 issuer prior to the sale of securities to such person that 

6 he or she— 

7 (1) is a person described in paragraphs (1), (2), 

8 (3), or (4) of section 506(c)(2)(ii)(C) of such title; 

9 (2) has retained and used the services of any 

10 person referred to in paragraph (1) to make an in11 vestment decision relative to the securities being of12 fered; or 

13 (3) is licensed as an accredited investor by the 

14 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority after com15 pleting an exam administered by such Authority 

16 using the criteria established by the Securities and 

17 Exchange Commission under section 2. 

18 SEC. 3. FINRA LICENSING PROGRAM. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall 

21 establish criteria for use by the Financial Industry Regu22 latory Authority in administering an exam to license as 

23 accredited investors natural persons who don’t meet the 

24 income and net worth requirements in paragraphs (5) and 

25 (6) of section 230.501(a) of title 17, Code of Federal RegVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 May 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187

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1 ulations. Such criteria may include methods for assuring 

2 that licensed accredited investors demonstrate a com3 petency in understanding the following: 

4 (1) The different types of securities. 

5 (2) The disclosure obligations under the securi6 ties laws of issuers versus private companies. 

7 (3) The structures of corporate governance. 

8 (4) The components of a financial statement. 

9 (5) Other criteria the Commission shall estab10 lish in the public interest and for the protection of 

11 investors. 

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