Title: Fostering Innovation Act of 2017
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Fostering Innovation Act of 2017
This bill amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to establish a temporary exemption to the requirement that each registered public accounting firm that prepares or issues an audit report for an issuer of securities (other than an emerging growth company) shall attest to, and report on, the internal control assessment made by the management of the issuer. Specifically, this requirement shall not apply with respect to an audit report prepared for an issuer that:
An issuer shall cease to be eligible for the exemption at the earliest of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year following the 10th anniversary of its first sale of common equity securities, (2) the last day of the fiscal year in which its average annual gross revenues exceed $50 million, or (3) when the issuer becomes a large accelerated filer.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1645 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1645

    To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to provide a temporary 
  exemption for low-revenue issuers from certain auditor attestation 
                             requirements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 21, 2017

Ms. Sinema (for herself and Mr. Hollingsworth) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to provide a temporary 
  exemption for low-revenue issuers from certain auditor attestation 
                             requirements.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fostering Innovation Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FOR LOW-REVENUE ISSUERS.

    Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7262) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Temporary Exemption for Low-Revenue Issuers.--
            ``(1) Low-revenue exemption.--Subsection (b) shall not 
        apply with respect to an audit report prepared for an issuer 
        that--
                    ``(A) ceased to be an emerging growth company on 
                the last day of the fiscal year of the issuer following 
                the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of 
                common equity securities of the issuer pursuant to an 
                effective registration statement under the Securities 
                Act of 1933;
                    ``(B) had average annual gross revenues of less 
                than $50,000,000 as of its most recently completed 
                fiscal year; and
                    ``(C) is not a large accelerated filer.
            ``(2) Expiration of temporary exemption.--An issuer ceases 
        to be eligible for the exemption described under paragraph (1) 
        at the earliest of--
                    ``(A) the last day of the fiscal year of the issuer 
                following the tenth anniversary of the date of the 
                first sale of common equity securities of the issuer 
                pursuant to an effective registration statement under 
                the Securities Act of 1933;
                    ``(B) the last day of the fiscal year of the issuer 
                during which the average annual gross revenues of the 
                issuer exceed $50,000,000; or
                    ``(C) the date on which the issuer becomes a large 
                accelerated filer.
            ``(3) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
                    ``(A) Average annual gross revenues.--The term 
                `average annual gross revenues' means the total gross 
                revenues of an issuer over its most recently completed 
                three fiscal years divided by three.
                    ``(B) Emerging growth company.--The term `emerging 
                growth company' has the meaning given such term under 
                section 3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 
                U.S.C. 78c).
                    ``(C) Large accelerated filer.--The term `large 
                accelerated filer' has the meaning given that term 
                under section 240.12b-2 of title 17, Code of Federal 
                Regulations, or any successor thereto.''.
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