IIA
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2972
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 13, 1996
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs
AN ACT
To authorize appropriations for the Securities and Exchange
Commission, to reduce the fees collected under the Fed-
eral securities laws, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securities and Ex-
change Commission Authorization Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to authorize appropriations for the Securi-
ties and Exchange Commission for fiscal year 1997;
and
(2) to reduce over time the rates of fees
charged under the Federal securities laws.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 35 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 35. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
the functions, powers, and duties of the Commission
$317,000,000 for fiscal year 1997.’’.
SEC. 4. REGISTRATION FEES.
Section 6(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C.
77f(b)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) REGISTRATION FEE.—
‘‘(1) RECOVERY OF COST OF SERVICES.—The
Commission shall, in accordance with this sub-
section, collect registration fees that are designed to
recover the costs to the government of the securities
registration process, and costs related to such proc-
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ess, including enforcement activities, policy and rule-
making activities, administration, legal services, and
international regulatory activities.
‘‘(2) FEE PAYMENT REQUIRED.—At the time of
filing a registration statement, the applicant shall
pay to the Commission a fee that shall be equal to
the sum of the amounts (if any) determined under
the rates established by paragraphs (3) and (4). The
Commission shall publish in the Federal Register
notices of the fee rates applicable under this section
for each fiscal year. In no case shall the fee required
by this subsection be less than $200, except that
during fiscal year 2002 or any succeeding fiscal year
such minimum fee shall be $182.
‘‘(3) GENERAL REVENUE FEES.—The rate de-
termined under this paragraph is a rate equal to
$200 for each $1,000,000 of the maximum aggre-
gate price at which such securities are proposed to
be offered, except that during fiscal year 2002 and
any succeeding fiscal year such rate is equal to $182
for each $1,000,000 of the maximum aggregate
price at which such securities are proposed to be of-
fered. Fees collected during any fiscal year pursuant
to this paragraph shall be deposited and credited as
general revenues of the Treasury.
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‘‘(4) OFFSETTING COLLECTION FEES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraphs (B) and (C), the rate deter-
mined under this paragraph is a rate equal to
the following amount for each $1,000,000 of
the maximum aggregate price at which such se-
curities are proposed to be offered:
‘‘(i) $103 during fiscal year 1997;
‘‘(ii) $70 during fiscal year 1998;
‘‘(iii) $38 during fiscal year 1999;
‘‘(iv) $17 during fiscal year 2000; and
‘‘(v) $0 during fiscal year 2001 or any
succeeding fiscal year.
‘‘(B) LIMITATION; DEPOSIT.—Except as
provided in subparagraph (C), no amounts shall
be collected pursuant to this paragraph (4) for
any fiscal year except to the extent provided in
advance in appropriations acts. Fees collected
during any fiscal year pursuant to this para-
graph shall be deposited and credited as offset-
ting collections in accordance with appropria-
tions Acts.
‘‘(C) LAPSE OF APPROPRIATIONS.—If on
the first day of a fiscal year a regular appro-
priation to the Commission has not been en-