IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2187 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2016 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Investment Op3 portunities for Professional Experts Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ACCREDITED INVESTOR. 

5 Section 2(a)(15) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 

6 U.S.C. 77b(a)(15) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as sub8 paragraphs (A) and (F), respectively; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), 

10 by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon, and in11 serting after such subparagraph the following: 

12 ‘‘(B) any natural person whose individual 

13 net worth, or joint net worth with that person’s 

14 spouse, exceeds $1,000,000 (which amount, 

15 along with the amounts set forth in subpara16 graph (C), shall be adjusted for inflation by the 

17 Commission every 5 years to the nearest 

18 $10,000 to reflect the change in the Consumer 

19 Price Index for All Urban Consumers published 

20 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) where, for 

21 purposes of calculating net worth under this 

22 subparagraph— 

23 ‘‘(i) the person’s primary residence 

24 shall not be included as an asset; 

25 ‘‘(ii) indebtedness that is secured by 

26 the person’s primary residence, up to the 


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1 estimated fair market value of the primary 

2 residence at the time of the sale of securi3 ties, shall not be included as a liability (ex4 cept that if the amount of such indebted5 ness outstanding at the time of sale of se6 curities exceeds the amount outstanding 60 

7 days before such time, other than as a re8 sult of the acquisition of the primary resi9 dence, the amount of such excess shall be 

10 included as a liability); and 

11 ‘‘(iii) indebtedness that is secured by 

12 the person’s primary residence in excess of 

13 the estimated fair market value of the pri14 mary residence at the time of the sale of 

15 securities shall be included as a liability; 

16 ‘‘(C) any natural person who had an indi17 vidual income in excess of $200,000 in each of 

18 the 2 most recent years or joint income with 

19 that person’s spouse in excess of $300,000 in 

20 each of those years and has a reasonable expec21 tation of reaching the same income level in the 

22 current year; 

23 ‘‘(D) any natural person who is currently 

24 licensed or registered as a broker or investment 

25 adviser by the Commission, the Financial InVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Feb 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.RFS H2187

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HR 2187 RFS 

1 dustry Regulatory Authority, or an equivalent 

2 self-regulatory organization (as defined in sec3 tion 3(a)(26) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

4 1934), or the securities division of a State or 

5 the equivalent State division responsible for li6 censing or registration of individuals in connec7 tion with securities activities; 

8 ‘‘(E) any natural person the Commission 

9 determines, by regulation, to have demonstrable 

10 education or job experience to qualify such per11 son as having professional knowledge of a sub12 ject related to a particular investment, and 

13 whose education or job experience is verified by 

14 the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or 

15 an equivalent self-regulatory organization (as 

16 defined in section 3(a)(26) of the Securities Ex17 change Act of 1934); or’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 1, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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