Title: Small Business Investment Improvement Act of 2019
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Small Business Investment Improvement Act of 2019
This bill directs the Small Business Administration to approve or decline an applicant seeking a license to operate as a small business investment company (SBIC) within certain specified timelines, and it requires an applicant to successfully pass a Federal Bureau of Investigation background check before it may become an SBIC.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1975 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1975

 To require the Small Business Administration to issue licenses under 
   the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 within particular time 
                    frames, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2019

    Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Young, Ms. 
Duckworth, Mr. Booker, and Mr. Scott of South Carolina) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Small Business Administration to issue licenses under 
   the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 within particular time 
                    frames, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Small Business Investment 
Improvement Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. TIMELINES FOR ISSUANCE OF SBIC LICENSES.

    Section 301(c) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 
U.S.C. 681(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(A) Status.--The Administrator shall provide an 
                applicant with a written report detailing the status of 
                the application and any requirements remaining for 
                completion of the application, including any external 
                or internal delays--
                            ``(i) except as provided in clauses (ii) 
                        and (iii), not later than 120 days after the 
                        initial receipt by the Administrator of the 
                        application;
                            ``(ii) not later than 45 days after the 
                        initial receipt, if the application is 
                        submitted by a repeat applicant or a non-
                        leveraged, non-bank applicant; or
                            ``(iii) not later than 25 days after the 
                        initial receipt, if the application is 
                        submitted by a bank-owned applicant.'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by striking ``Within a reasonable time 
                after receiving'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (C), not later than 240 days after the 
                date on which the Administrator receives''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Exceptions.--
                            ``(i) Repeat applicants; non-leveraged, 
                        non-bank applicant.--Notwithstanding 
                        subparagraph (B), not later than 90 days after 
                        the date on which the Administrator receives a 
                        completed application submitted by a repeat 
                        applicant or a non-leveraged, non-bank 
                        applicant in accordance with this subsection 
                        and in accordance with such requirements as the 
                        Administrator may prescribe by regulation, the 
                        Administrator shall--
                                    ``(I) review the application in its 
                                entirety; and
                                    ``(II)(aa) approve the application 
                                and issue a license for such operation 
                                to the applicant if the requirements of 
                                this section are satisfied; or
                                    ``(bb) disapprove the application 
                                and notify the applicant in writing of 
                                the disapproval.
                            ``(ii) Bank-owned applicants.--
                        Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), not later 
                        than 45 days after the date on which the 
                        Administrator receives a completed application 
                        submitted by a bank-owned applicant in 
                        accordance with this subsection and in 
                        accordance with such requirements as the 
                        Administrator may prescribe by regulation, the 
                        Administrator shall--
                                    ``(I) review the application in its 
                                entirety; and
                                    ``(II)(aa) approve the application 
                                and issue a license for such operation 
                                to the applicant if the requirements of 
                                this section are satisfied; or
                                    ``(bb) disapprove the application 
                                and notify the applicant in writing of 
                                the disapproval.'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in clause (ii), by adding ``and'' at 
                        the end; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) the management of the applicant has 
                        successfully passed Federal Bureau of 
                        Investigation background checks within the 
                        preceding 1-year period;''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in clause (iii), by adding ``and'' at 
                        the end; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iv) the public interest of approving or 
                        disapproving the applicant.'';
            (3) in paragraph (4)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iv) has successfully passed a Federal 
                        Bureau of Investigation background check within 
                        the preceding 1-year period.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `bank-owned applicant' means an 
                applicant for a license to operate as a small business 
                investment company under this Act that--
                            ``(i) is a national bank or any member bank 
                        of the Federal Reserve System or nonmember 
                        insured bank;
                            ``(ii) bears the same name as the future 
                        small business investment company;
                            ``(iii) is domestically domiciled; and
                            ``(iv) has not had a license under this Act 
                        revoked or involuntarily surrendered during the 
                        10-year period preceding the date on which the 
                        application is submitted;
                    ``(B) the term `non-leveraged, non-bank applicant' 
                means an applicant for a license to operate as a small 
                business investment company under this Act that is not 
                bank-owned and that, when operational, poses no risk to 
                the Federal Government; and
                    ``(C) the term `repeat applicant' means an 
                applicant for a license to operate as a small business 
                investment company under this Act that--
                            ``(i) has previously applied for and been 
                        issued such a license;
                            ``(ii) has 50 percent of the same 
                        management team with the 50 percent of the same 
                        investment committee as when the applicant 
                        operated as a small business investment 
                        company;
                            ``(iii) is applying for the same or less 
                        ratio leverage as when the applicant operated 
                        as a small business investment company;
                            ``(iv) has substantially the same 
                        investment strategy as when the applicant 
                        operated as a small business investment 
                        company;
                            ``(v) is not more than 50 percent larger 
                        than when the applicant operated as a small 
                        business investment company;
                            ``(vi) has not less than 50 percent of 
                        institutional limited partnerships returning 
                        from the prior fund to invest in the new small 
                        business investment company; and
                            ``(vii) has not had any major findings on 
                        examinations of the prior fund.''.
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