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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''SEC Regulatory Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF THE
COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ITS REGULATIONS AND CERTAIN OTHER
AGENCY ACTIONS.

Section 23 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78w)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
''(e) Consideration of Costs and Benefits.--
''(1) In general.--Before issuing a regulation under the
securities laws, as defined in section 3(a), the Commission
shall--
''(A) clearly identify the nature and source of the
problem that the proposed regulation is designed to
address, as well as assess the significance of that
problem, to enable assessment of whether any new
regulation is warranted;
''(B) utilize the Chief Economist to assess the
costs and benefits, both qualitative and quantitative,
of the intended regulation and propose or adopt a
regulation only on a reasoned determination that the
benefits of the intended regulation justify the costs
of the regulation;
''(C) identify and assess available alternatives to
the regulation that were considered, including
modification of an existing regulation, together with
an explanation of why the regulation meets the
regulatory objectives more effectively than the
alternatives; and
''(D) ensure that any regulation is accessible,
consistent, written in plain language, and easy to
understand and shall measure, and seek to improve, the
actual results of regulatory requirements.
''(2) Considerations and actions.--
''(A) Required actions.--In deciding whether and
how to regulate, the Commission shall assess the costs
and benefits of available regulatory alternatives,
including the alternative of not regulating, and choose
the approach that maximizes net benefits. Specifically,
the Commission shall--
''(i) consistent with the requirements of
section 3(f) (15 U.S.C. 78c(f)), section 2(b)
of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C.
77b(b)), section 202(c) of the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-2(c)), and
section 2(c) of the Investment Company Act of
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-2(c)), consider whether the
rulemaking will promote efficiency,
competition, and capital formation;
''(ii) evaluate whether, consistent with
obtaining regulatory objectives, the regulation
is tailored to impose the least burden on
society, including market participants,
individuals, businesses of differing sizes, and
other entities (including State and local
governmental entities), taking into account, to
the extent practicable, the cumulative costs of
regulations; and
''(iii) evaluate whether the regulation is
inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative of
other Federal regulations.
''(B) Additional considerations.--In addition, in
making a reasoned determination of the costs and
benefits of a potential regulation, the Commission
shall, to the extent that each is relevant to the
particular proposed regulation, take into consideration
the impact of the regulation on--
''(i) investor choice;
''(ii) market liquidity in the securities
markets; and
''(iii) small businesses.
''(3) Explanation and comments.--The Commission shall
explain in its final rule the nature of comments that it
received, including those from the industry or consumer groups
concerning the potential costs or benefits of the proposed rule
or proposed rule change, and shall provide a response to those
comments in its final rule, including an explanation of any
changes that were made in response to those comments and the
reasons that the Commission did not incorporate those industry
group concerns related to the potential costs or benefits in
the final rule.
''(4) Review of existing regulations.--Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of the SEC Regulatory
Accountability Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the
Commission shall review its regulations to determine whether
any such regulations are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient,
or excessively burdensome, and shall modify, streamline,
expand, or repeal them in accordance with such review. In
reviewing any regulation (including, notwithstanding paragraph
(6), a regulation issued in accordance with formal rulemaking
provisions) that subjects issuers with a public float of
$250,000,000 or less to the attestation and reporting
requirements of section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002 (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)), the Commission shall specifically
take into account the large burden of such regulation when
compared to the benefit of such regulation.
''(5) Post-adoption impact assessment.--
''(A) In general.--Whenever the Commission adopts
or amends a regulation designated as a 'major rule'
within the meaning of section 804(2) of title 5, United
States Code, it shall state, in its adopting release,
the following:
''(i) The purposes and intended
consequences of the regulation.
''(ii) Appropriate post-implementation
quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure
the economic impact of the regulation and to
measure the extent to which the regulation has
accomplished the stated purposes.
''(iii) The assessment plan that will be
used, consistent with the requirements of
subparagraph (B) and under the supervision of
the Chief Economist of the Commission, to
assess whether the regulation has achieved the
stated purposes.
''(iv) Any unintended or negative
consequences that the Commission foresees may
result from the regulation.
''(B) Requirements of assessment plan and report.--
''(i) Requirements of plan.--The assessment
plan required under this paragraph shall
consider the costs, benefits, and intended and
unintended consequences of the regulation. The
plan shall specify the data to be collected,
the methods for collection and analysis of the
data and a date for completion of the
assessment. The assessment plan shall include
an analysis of any jobs added or lost as a
result of the regulation, differentiating
between public and private sector jobs.
''(ii) Submission and publication of
report.--The Chief Economist shall submit the
completed assessment report to the Commission
no later than 2 years after the publication of
the adopting release, unless the Commission, at
the request of the Chief Economist, has
published at least 90 days before such date a
notice in the Federal Register extending the
date and providing specific reasons why an
extension is necessary. Within 7 days after
submission to the Commission of the final
assessment report, it shall be published in the
Federal Register for notice and comment. Any
material modification of the plan, as necessary
to assess unforeseen aspects or consequences of
the regulation, shall be promptly published in
the Federal Register for notice and comment.
''(iii) Data collection not subject to
notice and comment requirements.--If the
Commission has published its assessment plan
for notice and comment, specifying the data to
be collected and method of collection, at least
30 days prior to adoption of a final regulation
or amendment, such collection of data shall not
be subject to the notice and comment
requirements in section 3506(c) of title 44,
United States Code (commonly referred to as the
Paperwork Reduction Act). Any material
modifications of the plan that require
collection of data not previously published for
notice and comment shall also be exempt from
such requirements if the Commission has
published notice for comment in the Federal
Register of the additional data to be
collected, at least 30 days prior to initiation
of data collection.
''(iv) Final action.--Not later than 180
days after publication of the assessment report
in the Federal Register, the Commission shall
issue for notice and comment a proposal to
amend or rescind the regulation, or publish a
notice that the Commission has determined that
no action will be taken on the regulation. Such
a notice will be deemed a final agency action.
''(6) Covered regulations and other agency actions.--Solely
as used in this subsection, the term 'regulation'--
''(A) means an agency statement of general
applicability and future effect that is designed to
implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to
describe the procedure or practice requirements of an
agency, including rules, orders of general
applicability, interpretive releases, and other
statements of general applicability that the agency
intends to have the force and effect of law; and
''(B) does not include--
''(i) a regulation issued in accordance
with the formal rulemaking provisions of
section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States
Code;
''(ii) a regulation that is limited to
agency organization, management, or personnel
matters;
''(iii) a regulation promulgated pursuant
to statutory authority that expressly prohibits
compliance with this provision; and
''(iv) a regulation that is certified by
the agency to be an emergency action, if such
certification is published in the Federal
Register.''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO OTHER REGULATORY ENTITIES.

It is the sense of the Congress that the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board should also follow the requirements of section 23(e) of
such Act, as added by this title.

SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISION RELATING TO OTHER REGULATORY ENTITIES.

A rule adopted by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board or any
national securities association registered under section 15A of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o-3) shall not take effect
unless the Securities and Exchange Commission determines that, in
adopting such rule, the Board or association has complied with the
requirements of section 23(e) of such Act, as added by section 2, in
the same manner as is required by the Commission under such section
23(e).

Passed the House of Representatives May 17, 2013.

Attest:

KAREN L. HAAS,

Clerk.
SEC Regulatory Accountability Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Act) to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), before issuing a regulation under the securities laws, to: (1) identify the nature and source of the problem that the proposed regulation is designed to address in order to assess whether any new regulation is warranted; (2) use the SEC Chief Economist to assess the costs and benefits of the intended regulation and adopt it only upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify the costs; (3) identify and assess the available alternatives that were considered; and (4) ensure that any regulation is accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand. Requires the SEC to: (1) consider whether the rulemaking will promote efficiency, competition, and capital formation; (2) consider the impact of the regulation upon investor choice, market liquidity, and small business; (3) explain in its final rule the nature of comments received concerning the proposed rule or rule change; and (4) respond to those comments, explaining any changes made in response and the reasons that it did not incorporate industry group concerns regarding potential costs or benefits. Requires the SEC to: (1) review periodically its existing regulations to determine if they are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome; and (2) modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them. Requires the SEC, whenever it adopts or amends a major rule, to state in its adopting release: (1) the purposes and intended consequences of the regulation, (2) the post-implementation quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure the economic impact of the regulation and the extent to which it has accomplished the stated purposes, (3) the assessment plan that will be used under the supervision of the Chief Economist to assess whether the regulation has achieved those purposes, and (4) any foreseeable unintended or negative consequences. Requires the assessment plan to: (1) consider the costs, benefits, and intended and unintended consequences of the regulation; (2) specify the data to be collected, the methods for its collection and analysis, and an assessment completion date; and (3) analyze jobs added or lost as a result of the regulation, differentiating between public and private sector jobs. Waives notice and comment requirements for the data collection if the SEC has published its assessment plan for notice and comment at least 30 days before adoption of a final regulation or amendment. (Sec. 3) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board should also follow the requirements set forth by this Act. (Sec. 4) Prohibits a rule adopted by either the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board or any registered national securities association from taking effect unless the SEC determines that, in adopting such rule, such entities have complied with the requirements of this Act.