I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3060
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to augment the emergency
authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 9, 2001
Mr. OXLEY (for himself, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. BAKER, and Mr. KANJORSKI) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to augment
the emergency authority of the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Securities
Response Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF EMERGENCY ORDER AUTHORITY OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE COMMISSION.
(a) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Paragraph (2) of
section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15
U.S.C. 78l(k)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(2) EMERGENCY ORDERS.—(A) The Commis-
sion, in an emergency, may by order summarily take
such action to alter, supplement, suspend, or impose
requirements or restrictions with respect to any mat-
ter or action subject to regulation by the Commis-
sion or a self-regulatory organization under the secu-
rities laws, as the Commission determines is nec-
essary in the public interest and for the protection
of investors—
‘‘(i) to maintain or restore fair and orderly
securities markets (other than markets in ex-
empted securities);
‘‘(ii) to ensure prompt, accurate, and safe
clearance and settlement of transactions in se-
curities (other than exempted securities); or
‘‘(iii) to reduce, eliminate, or prevent the
substantial disruption by the emergency of (I)
securities markets, investment companies, or
any other significant portion or segment of such
markets, or (II) the transmission or processing
of securities transactions.
‘‘(B) An order of the Commission under this
paragraph (2) shall continue in effect for the period
specified by the Commission, and may be extended.
Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the Com-
mission’s action may not continue in effect for more
than 30 business days, including extensions. If the
actions described in subparagraph (A) involve a se-
curity futures product, the Commission shall consult
with and consider the views of the Commodity Fu-
tures Trading Commission. In exercising its author-
ity under this paragraph, the Commission shall not
be required to comply with the provisions of section
553 of title 5, United States Code, or with the provi-
sions of section 19(c) of this title.
‘‘(C) An order of the Commission under this
paragraph (2) may be extended to continue in effect
for more than 30 business days if, at the time of the
extension, the Commission finds that the emergency
still exists and determines that the continuation of
the order beyond 30 business days is necessary in
the public interest and for the protection of investors
to attain an objective described in clause (i), (ii), or
(iii) of subparagraph (A). In no event shall an order
of the Commission under this paragraph (2) con-
tinue in effect for more than 90 calendar days.’’.
(b) DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY.—Paragraph (6) of
section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15
U.S.C. 78l(k)(6)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(6) DEFINITION
OF
EMERGENCY.—For pur-
poses of this subsection, the term ‘emergency’
means—
‘‘(A) a major market disturbance charac-
terized by or constituting—
‘‘(i) sudden and excessive fluctuations
of securities prices generally, or a substan-
tial threat thereof, that threaten fair and
orderly markets; or
‘‘(ii) a substantial disruption of the
safe or efficient operation of the national
system for clearance and settlement of
transactions in securities, or a substantial
threat thereof; or
‘‘(B) a major disturbance that substan-
tially disrupts, or threatens to substantially
disrupt—
‘‘(i) the functioning of securities mar-
kets, investment companies, or any other
significant portion or segment of the secu-
rities markets; or
‘‘(ii) the transmission or processing of
securities transactions.’’.
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