H. R. 3763—40
(3) PLAN AMENDMENTS.—If any amendment made by this
subsection requires an amendment to any plan, such plan
amendment shall not be required to be made before the first
plan year beginning on or after the effective date of this section,
if—
(A) during the period after such amendment made
by this subsection takes effect and before such first plan
year, the plan is operated in good faith compliance with
the requirements of such amendment made by this sub-
section, and
(B) such plan amendment applies retroactively to the
period after such amendment made by this subsection takes
effect and before such first plan year.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this section (including
the amendments made thereby) shall take effect 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act. Good faith compliance with
the requirements of such provisions in advance of the issuance
of applicable regulations thereunder shall be treated as compliance
with such provisions.
SEC. 307. RULES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTORNEYS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Commission shall issue rules, in the public interest and
for the protection of investors, setting forth minimum standards
of professional conduct for attorneys appearing and practicing before
the Commission in any way in the representation of issuers,
including a rule—
(1) requiring an attorney to report evidence of a material
violation of securities law or breach of fiduciary duty or similar
violation by the company or any agent thereof, to the chief
legal counsel or the chief executive officer of the company
(or the equivalent thereof); and
(2) if the counsel or officer does not appropriately respond
to the evidence (adopting, as necessary, appropriate remedial
measures or sanctions with respect to the violation), requiring
the attorney to report the evidence to the audit committee
of the board of directors of the issuer or to another committee
of the board of directors comprised solely of directors not
employed directly or indirectly by the issuer, or to the board
of directors.
SEC. 308. FAIR FUNDS FOR INVESTORS.
(a) CIVIL PENALTIES ADDED TO DISGORGEMENT FUNDS FOR THE
RELIEF OF VICTIMS.—If in any judicial or administrative action
brought by the Commission under the securities laws (as such
term is defined in section 3(a)(47) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(47)) the Commission obtains an order
requiring disgorgement against any person for a violation of such
laws or the rules or regulations thereunder, or such person agrees
in settlement of any such action to such disgorgement, and the
Commission also obtains pursuant to such laws a civil penalty
against such person, the amount of such civil penalty shall, on
the motion or at the direction of the Commission, be added to
and become part of the disgorgement fund for the benefit of the
victims of such violation.
(b) ACCEPTANCE OF ADDITIONAL DONATIONS.—The Commission
is authorized to accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts, bequests
and devises of property, both real and personal, to the United
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States for a disgorgement fund described in subsection (a). Such
gifts, bequests, and devises of money and proceeds from sales of
other property received as gifts, bequests, or devises shall be depos-
ited in the disgorgement fund and shall be available for allocation
in accordance with subsection (a).
(c) STUDY REQUIRED.—
(1) SUBJECT OF STUDY.—The Commission shall review and
analyze—
(A) enforcement actions by the Commission over the
five years preceding the date of the enactment of this
Act that have included proceedings to obtain civil penalties
or disgorgements to identify areas where such proceedings
may be utilized to efficiently, effectively, and fairly provide
restitution for injured investors; and
(B) other methods to more efficiently, effectively, and
fairly provide restitution to injured investors, including
methods to improve the collection rates for civil penalties
and disgorgements.
(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Commission shall report its
findings to the Committee on Financial Services of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs of the Senate within 180 days after of
the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall use such
findings to revise its rules and regulations as necessary. The
report shall include a discussion of regulatory or legislative
actions that are recommended or that may be necessary to
address concerns identified in the study.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Each of the following provi-
sions is amended by inserting ‘‘, except as otherwise provided in
section 308 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002’’ after ‘‘Treasury
of the United States’’:
(1) Section 21(d)(3)(C)(i) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u(d)(3)(C)(i)).
(2) Section 21A(d)(1) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 78u-1(d)(1)).
(3) Section 20(d)(3)(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15
U.S.C. 77t(d)(3)(A)).
(4) Section 42(e)(3)(A) of the Investment Company Act of
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–41(e)(3)(A)).
(5) Section 209(e)(3)(A) of the Investment Advisers Act
of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–9(e)(3)(A)).
(e) 
DEFINITION.—As 
used 
in 
this 
section, 
the 
term
‘‘disgorgement fund’’ means a fund established in any administra-
tive or judicial proceeding described in subsection (a).
TITLE IV—ENHANCED FINANCIAL
DISCLOSURES
SEC. 401. DISCLOSURES IN PERIODIC REPORTS.
(a) DISCLOSURES
REQUIRED.—Section 13 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(i) ACCURACY OF FINANCIAL REPORTS.—Each financial report
that contains financial statements, and that is required to be pre-
pared in accordance with (or reconciled to) generally accepted
accounting principles under this title and filed with the Commission
shall reflect all material correcting adjustments that have been
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identified by a registered public accounting firm in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles and the rules and
regulations of the Commission.
‘‘(j) OFF-BALANCE SHEET TRANSACTIONS.—Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, the Commission shall issue final rules providing that each
annual and quarterly financial report required to be filed with
the Commission shall disclose all material off-balance sheet trans-
actions, arrangements, obligations (including contingent obliga-
tions), and other relationships of the issuer with unconsolidated
entities or other persons, that may have a material current or
future effect on financial condition, changes in financial condition,
results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, capital
resources, or significant components of revenues or expenses.’’.
(b) COMMISSION RULES ON PRO FORMA FIGURES.—Not later
than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act fo 2002, the Commission shall issue final rules providing that
pro forma financial information included in any periodic or other
report filed with the Commission pursuant to the securities laws,
or in any public disclosure or press or other release, shall be
presented in a manner that—
(1) does not contain an untrue statement of a material
fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to
make the pro forma financial information, in light of the cir-
cumstances under which it is presented, not misleading; and
(2) reconciles it with the financial condition and results
of operations of the issuer under generally accepted accounting
principles.
(c) STUDY AND REPORT ON SPECIAL PURPOSE ENTITIES.—
(1) STUDY
REQUIRED.—The Commission shall, not later
than 1 year after the effective date of adoption of off-balance
sheet disclosure rules required by section 13(j) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as added by this section, complete a
study of filings by issuers and their disclosures to determine—
(A) the extent of off-balance sheet transactions,
including assets, liabilities, leases, losses, and the use of
special purpose entities; and
(B) whether generally accepted accounting rules result
in financial statements of issuers reflecting the economics
of such off-balance sheet transactions to investors in a
transparent fashion.
(2) REPORT
AND
RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 6
months after the date of completion of the study required
by paragraph (1), the Commission shall submit a report to
the President, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Financial Services
of the House of Representatives, setting forth—
(A) the amount or an estimate of the amount of off-
balance sheet transactions, including assets, liabilities,
leases, and losses of, and the use of special purpose entities
by, issuers filing periodic reports pursuant to section 13
or 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934;
(B) the extent to which special purpose entities are
used to facilitate off-balance sheet transactions;
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(C) whether generally accepted accounting principles
or the rules of the Commission result in financial state-
ments of issuers reflecting the economics of such trans-
actions to investors in a transparent fashion;
(D) whether generally accepted accounting principles
specifically result in the consolidation of special purpose
entities sponsored by an issuer in cases in which the issuer
has the majority of the risks and rewards of the special
purpose entity; and
(E) any recommendations of the Commission for
improving the transparency and quality of reporting off-
balance sheet transactions in the financial statements and
disclosures required to be filed by an issuer with the
Commission.
SEC. 402. ENHANCED CONFLICT OF INTEREST PROVISIONS.
(a) PROHIBITION ON PERSONAL LOANS TO EXECUTIVES.—Section
13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m), as
amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(k) PROHIBITION ON PERSONAL LOANS TO EXECUTIVES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any issuer (as
defined in section 2 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), directly
or indirectly, including through any subsidiary, to extend or
maintain credit, to arrange for the extension of credit, or to
renew an extension of credit, in the form of a personal loan
to or for any director or executive officer (or equivalent thereof)
of that issuer. An extension of credit maintained by the issuer
on the date of enactment of this subsection shall not be subject
to the provisions of this subsection, provided that there is
no material modification to any term of any such extension
of credit or any renewal of any such extension of credit on
or after that date of enactment.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) does not preclude any
home improvement and manufactured home loans (as that term
is defined in section 5 of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12
U.S.C. 1464)), consumer credit (as defined in section 103 of
the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602)), or any extension
of credit under an open end credit plan (as defined in section
103 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602)), or a charge
card (as defined in section 127(c)(4)(e) of the Truth in Lending
Act (15 U.S.C. 1637(c)(4)(e)), or any extension of credit by
a broker or dealer registered under section 15 of this title
to an employee of that broker or dealer to buy, trade, or
carry securities, that is permitted under rules or regulations
of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System pursu-
ant to section 7 of this title (other than an extension of credit
that would be used to purchase the stock of that issuer), that
is—
‘‘(A) made or provided in the ordinary course of the
consumer credit business of such issuer;
‘‘(B) of a type that is generally made available by
such issuer to the public; and
‘‘(C) made by such issuer on market terms, or terms
that are no more favorable than those offered by the issuer
to the general public for such extensions of credit.
‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR CERTAIN LOANS.—Para-
graph (1) does not apply to any loan made or maintained