Title: SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing Act
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing Act
This bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to assess the usefulness of certain disclosure rules to retail investors. Specifically, the SEC must make these assessments regarding both current and new securities rules and regulations that require the disclosure of documents or information to retail investors.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1815 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1815

  To require the Securities and Exchange Commission, when developing 
rules and regulations about disclosures to retail investors, to conduct 
     investor testing, including a survey and interviews of retail 
                   investors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 2019

    Mr. Casten of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Securities and Exchange Commission, when developing 
rules and regulations about disclosures to retail investors, to conduct 
     investor testing, including a survey and interviews of retail 
                   investors, 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 ``SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE TESTING.

    (a) In General.--Section 23(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(4) Investor Testing.--
            ``(A) In general.--The Commission, prior to making any rule 
        or regulation pursuant to any provision of the securities laws 
        which would designate documents or information to be provided 
        to a retail investor, shall engage in investor testing to 
        assess whether designating such documents or information will 
        achieve the purpose intended by the Commission.
            ``(B) Contents.--Investor testing conducted pursuant to 
        subparagraph (A) shall include the following:
                    ``(i) Qualitative testing in the form of one-on-one 
                cognitive interviews of retail investors about 
                documents or information, or samples of such documents 
                or information, to be provided.
                    ``(ii) A nationwide survey of retail investors, 
                designed to complement the interviews under clause (i), 
                on--
                            ``(I) the usefulness of such documents or 
                        information, or samples of such documents or 
                        information;
                            ``(II) the proposed format of such 
                        documents or information, or samples of such 
                        documents or information; and
                            ``(III) delivery preferences of such 
                        documents or information, or samples of such 
                        documents or information.
                    ``(iii) Analysis and publication in the Federal 
                Register of the results of the survey and interviews.
                    ``(iv) An opportunity for the public to comment on 
                such results published in the Federal Register.
            ``(C) Substantive changes.--If the Commission, in the 
        period between engaging in investor testing and publishing a 
        final rule, makes substantive changes to such rule that the 
        Commission determines would have a significant impact on 
        investors, the Commission shall again engage in investor 
        testing.''.
    (b) Prior Rules.--
            (1) In general.--For any final rule or regulation issued by 
        the Securities and Exchange Commission (in this subsection 
        referred to as the ``Commission'') before the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, pursuant to any provision of the 
        securities laws (as such term is defined in section 3(a) of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934) which designates documents or 
        information to be provided to a retail investor, the Commission 
        shall perform investor testing that includes the contents 
        described in section 23(a)(4) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
        1934.
            (2) Schedule.--The Commission shall, not later than 6 
        months after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a 
        schedule for completing any investor testing required under 
        paragraph (1) that prioritizes testing of any final rules and 
        regulations that designate documents or information central to 
        retail investor decision making.
            (3) Report.--The Commission shall issue a report to 
        Congress each year containing the following:
                    (A) The status of any investor testing required 
                under paragraph (1).
                    (B) The results of any investor testing completed 
                under paragraph (1).
                    (C) Any priorities the Commission has, based on 
                results of investor testing required by paragraph (1), 
                for--
                            (i) revising or eliminating any final rule 
                        or regulation designating documents or 
                        information to be provided to retail investors; 
                        and
                            (ii) revising any other final rule or 
                        regulation to supplement revised or eliminated 
                        rules designating documents or information to 
                        be provided to retail investors.
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