SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Next Steps for Credit 
Availability Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO PERMIT BUSINESS DEVELOP-
MENT COMPANIES TO OWN INVESTMENT AD-
VISERS. 
Section 60 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 
(15 U.S.C. 80a–59) is amended by striking ‘‘except that 
the Commission shall not’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘except that— 
‘‘(1) section 12 shall not apply to the pur-
chasing, otherwise acquiring, or holding by a busi-
ness development company of any security issued by, 
or any other interest in the business of, any person 
who is an investment adviser registered under title 
II of this Act or who is an investment adviser to an 
investment company; and 
‘‘(2) the Commission shall not’’. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO CAPITAL FOR 
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES. 
Section 61(a) of the Investment Company Act of 
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–60(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘200’’ and in-
serting ‘‘150’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or which is 
a stock’’ after ‘‘indebtedness’’; and 
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(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) Section 18(a)(2) shall not apply to a busi-
ness development company.’’. 
SEC. 4. PARITY FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES 
REGARDING OFFERING RULES. 
(a) REVISION TO RULES.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Securities and 
Exchange Commission shall revise any rules (or any suc-
cessor rules) to the extent necessary to allow a business 
development company that has filed an election pursuant 
to section 54 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 
U.S.C. 80a–60(a)) to use the securities offering rules that 
are available to other issuers that are required to file re-
ports under section 13 or section 15(d) of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (Public Law 73–404; 48 Stat. 
881). Any action that the Commission takes pursuant to 
this subsection shall include the following: 
(1) The Commission shall revise rule 405 under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.405)— 
(A) to remove the exclusion of a business 
development company from the definition of a 
well-known seasoned issuer provided by that 
rule; and 
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(B) to add registration statements filed on 
Form N–2 to the definition of ‘‘automatic shelf 
registration statement’’ provided by that rule. 
(2) The Commission shall revise rules 168 and 
169 under the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 
230.168 and 230.169) to remove the exclusion of a 
business development company from an issuer that 
can use the exemptions provided by those rules. 
(3) The Commission shall revise rules 163 and 
163A under the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 
230.163 and 230.163A) to remove a business devel-
opment company from the list of issuers that are in-
eligible to use the exemptions provided by those 
rules. 
(4) The Commission shall revise rule 134 under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.134) to 
remove the exclusion of a business development com-
pany from that rule. 
(5) The Commission shall revise rules 138 and 
139 under the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 
230.138 and 230.139) to specifically include a busi-
ness development company as an issuer to which 
those rules apply. 
(6) The Commission shall revise rule 164 under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.164) to 
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remove a business development company from the 
list of issuers that are excluded from that rule. 
(7) The Commission shall revise rule 433 under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.433) to 
specifically include a business development company 
that is a well-known seasoned issuer as an issuer to 
which that rule applies. 
(8) The Commission shall revise rule 415 under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.415)— 
(A) to state that the registration for secu-
rities provided by that rule includes securities 
registered by a business development company 
on Form N–2; and 
(B) to provide an exception for a business 
development company from the requirement 
that a Form N–2 registrant must furnish the 
undertakings required by item 34.4 of Form N– 
2. 
(9) The Commission shall revise rule 497 under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 230.497) to 
include a process for a business development com-
pany to file a form of prospectus that is parallel to 
the process for filing a form of prospectus under 
rule 424(b). 
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(10) The Commission shall revise rules 172 and 
173 under the Securities Act of 1933 (17 C.F.R. 
230.172 and 230.173) to remove the exclusion of an 
offering of a business development company from 
those rules. 
(b) REVISION TO FORM N–2.—The Commission shall 
revise Form N–2— 
(1) to include an item or instruction that is 
similar to item 12 on Form S–3 to provide that a 
business development company that meets the re-
quirements of Form S–3 shall incorporate by ref-
erence its reports and documents filed under the Se-
curities Exchange Act of 1934 into its registration 
statement filed on Form N–2; and 
(2) to include an instruction (that is similar to 
the instruction regarding automatic shelf offerings 
by well-known seasoned issuers on Form S–3) to 
provide that a business development company that is 
a well-known seasoned issuer may file automatic 
shelf offerings on Form N–2 (or any successor 
form). 
Æ 
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