zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
SEC Delinquent Judgment Collection Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to authorize the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to contract for the collection of delinquent claims resulting from judgments or orders it obtains. Extends such authority to the retention of private legal counsel to furnish legal services, including representation in litigation, negotiation, compromise, and settlement.

Date: 2009-10-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Financial Crisis of 2008 Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Act of 2009 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2012 for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to hire 1,000 FBI agents as well as additional forensic experts to investigate corporate, securities, and mortgage fraud, and associated violations of law relating to the U.S. financial markets. Authorizes the hiring also of additional employees by the Attorney General and by the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Enforcement to conduct related investigations and prosecutions.

Date: 2009-11-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on certain securities transactions, including transactions in stocks, futures, swaps, credit default swaps, and options. Exempts transactions for securities held in tax-exempt retirement accounts, health savings accounts, educational accounts, and regulated investment companies. Allows the purchaser of securities a credit against the excise tax for the lesser of the tax incurred or $250 ($500 for married couples filing joint tax returns). Requires withholding of excise tax amounts by the transferor of securities subject to the tax. Requires one-half of the tax revenues raised by this Act to be held in a separate Job Creation Reserve account to offset additional costs from the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 and subsequent legislation to fund job creation. Expresses the sense of Congress that one-half of the tax revenues raised by this Act shall be used to reduce the federal deficit.

Date: 2009-12-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase from 50 to 100% the exclusion from gross income allowed for gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock that is acquired during 2010; and (2) exempt gain from such stock in calculating the alternative minimum tax.

Date: 2009-12-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require the application for registration of a security on a national securities exchange, as well as periodic reports by issuers of securities, to contain a statement certifying that the issuer is in compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 with respect to contributions and expenditures it made in the most recent quarter and year, as such Act applied to elections held in 2008.

Date: 2010-01-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Shareholder Protection Act of 2010 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit an issuer from making any expenditure for political activities in excess of $10,000 in any fiscal year without first obtaining the written affirmative authorization for such expenditure by a majority of all shareholders. Deems a violation of this requirement to be a breach of the fiduciary duty of the officers and directors who authorized such expenditure. Subjects to joint and several liability to any shareholder or class of shareholders for the amount of such expenditure the officers and directors who authorize it without prior shareholder authorization. Prohibits rules and guidelines established by any national securities exchange or by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from considering as a routine corporate matter a decision to make a contribution or expenditure for political activities in excess of $10,000. Exempts from the shareholder prior approval requirement an issuer whose sole business is the publication or broadcasting of news, commentary, literature, music, entertainment, artistic expression, scientific, historical or academic works, or other forms of information. Directs the SEC to require issuers to disclose quarterly any expenditure for political activities made during the preceding quarter. Requires such report to be filed with the SEC, provided to shareholders, and be made publicly available through the SEC website.

Date: 2010-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Enhancing Investment in Small Businesses Act of 2010 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an exclusion from gross income of all gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock held for more than five years.

Date: 2010-02-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Maintaining Agency Direction on Financial Fraud Act - Prohibits any interpretive guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission which relates to "Commission Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change" from taking effect with respect to any person on or after February 2, 2010.

Date: 2010-03-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Ponzi Scheme Investor Protection Act of 2010 - Amends the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 with respect to the duties of a trustee appointed for a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered broker or dealer undergoing liquidation. Instructs the trustee to take specified actions if the trustee determines that the debtor is a Ponzi scheme. Establishes procedures for an indirect Ponzi scheme investor to file a claim. Instructs the trustee to: (1) coordinate with Ponzi scheme investors to ensure proper payments to indirect Ponzi scheme investors; and (2) take specified actions to pay indirect Ponzi scheme investors. Prescribes the maximum aggregate amount of all cash and securities that may be awarded to each indirect Ponzi scheme investor. Prohibits the trustee of a Ponzi scheme from seeking to recover money and profits from any Ponzi scheme investor unless such investor's participation in the Ponzi scheme was either complicit or negligent. Requires the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) to: (1) advance to the trustee such moneys as may be required to pay claims and implement this Act; and (2) promulgate regulations modifying SIPC Fund assessment levels to ensure they are adequate to cover the anticipated costs of implementing this Act.

Date: 2010-04-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Liability for Aiding and Abetting Securities Violations Act of 2010 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to subject to liability in a private civil action any person that knowingly or recklessly provides substantial assistance to another person (aids and abets) in violation of such Act.

Date: 2010-04-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
United States Covered Bond Act of 2010 - Directs the Comptroller of the Currency (covered bond regulator) to establish a regulatory oversight program for specified senior recourse debt obligations of an eligible issuer (covered bonds). Requires the covered bond regulator to: (1) consult with the primary financial regulatory agency of an eligible issuer before approving any covered bond program; and (2) maintain a registry on a website available to the public containing the name of each approved covered bond program and information on all outstanding covered bonds issued under it. Requires the covered bond regulator from time to time to establish minimum over-collateralization requirements for covered bonds backed by each eligible asset classes (including residential mortgage, commercial mortgage, public sector, small business, and other asset classes) based on the credit, collection, and interest-rate risks (excluding liquidity risks) associated with such eligible asset class. Requires the eligible assets and substitute assets in each cover pool that secures covered bonds to meet, in the aggregate and at all times, the applicable minimum over-collateralization requirements. Requires each issuer of covered bonds to: (1) report monthly on whether the cover pool that secures the covered bonds meets the applicable minimum over-collateralization requirements; and (2) appoint an unaffiliated entity as independent asset monitor for the applicable cover pool. Requires the independent asset monitor to verify and disclose to the issuer's primary financial regulatory agency, the covered bond regulator, and the applicable covered bond holders whether the cover pool that secures the covered bonds meets the statutory minimum over-collateralization requirements. Prescribes: (1) covered bond eligibility requirements; and (2) procedures governing default and insolvency of a covered bond both prior and subsequent to conservatorship, receivership, liquidation, or bankruptcy of the issuer. Prescribes procedures governing default or insolvency of a covered bond both prior and subsequent to conservatorship or receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), liquidation, or bankruptcy of the issuer, including trusteeship of the estate in bankruptcy by the covered bond regulator or an appointee. States that any covered bond issued or guaranteed by a bank is a security issued or guaranteed under specified securities laws. Amends the Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act of 1984 to include covered bonds within its purview.

Date: 2010-07-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010 or ITA Act of 2010 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require an issuer to state, in its mandatory periodic report, whether it (or any subsidiary or affiliate) has: (1) engaged in an activity of a type and involving an amount that could subject it to sanctions under the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996; (2) knowingly engaged in an activity or violated regulations described under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010; or (3) had any ties to a company designated by either the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of State as contributing or supporting the proliferation activities of Iran. Prescribes specified disclosures. Requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make such disclosures public. Directs the President, upon receipt of such report, to investigate and determine if the issuer should be subject to sanctions under the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996.

Date: 2010-07-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
SEC Transparency Act of 2010 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and the Investment Company Act of 1940 to repeal the section of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) that exempts from the disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act any materials submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Restores or revives the provisions of law amended or repealed by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Date: 2010-07-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal the prohibition of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act against compelling the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose records or information obtained from registered persons pursuant to its regulatory or oversight activities. Declares that for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): (1) the SEC is an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; and (2) any entity for which the SEC is the responsible regulator, supervisor, or examiner under such Act is a financial institution. (Thus retains the general exemption from FOIA of matters contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of the SEC and any other agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.) Amends the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act to repeal similar prohibitions against compelling the SEC to disclose records or information provided to it by a registered investment company or investment adviser, or an underwriter, broker, dealer, or investment adviser that is a majority-owned subsidiary of such a company, for SEC use in furtherance of certain purposes, including surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.

Date: 2010-08-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Exempts gain from the sale or exchange of certain C corporation stock from any increase in the capital gains tax rate resulting from the expiration of provisions of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 providing for a reduction in such tax rate.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Equitable Treatment of Investors Act - Amends the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 to revise the definition of "net equity." Declares also that, in determining net equity, the positions, options, and contracts of a customer held by the debtor, and any indebtedness of the customer to the debtor, shall be determined based on: (1) the information contained in the last statement received by the customer from the debtor before the filing date; and (2) any additional specific confirmations of the customer's positions, options, contracts, or indebtedness received after such last statement but before the filing date. Prohibits reliance on the final statement of the debtor to customer, however, if the customer: (1) knew the debtor was involved in fraudulent activity with respect to any of its customers; or (2) as a registrant under the securities laws, or a person required to be so registered, knew, or should have known, that the debtor was involved in such a fraudulent activity and did not notify the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), or law enforcement personnel that the debtor was so involved. Prohibits a trustee in a liquidation proceeding from recovering any property transferred by the debtor to a customer before the filing date unless, at the time of such transfer, the customer meets the same critieria. Transfers from SIPC to the SEC authority to nominate to a court persons for appointment as trustee for the liquidation of a debtor's business and as attorney for the trustee.

Date: 2010-12-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt interest earned on tax-exempt private activity bonds from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and to exclude such interest as an adjustment to current earnings for purposes of computing alternative minimum taxable income.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Taxpayer Protection Act - Makes a federal financial entity (the Secretary of the Treasury, members of the Financial Institutions Examination Council, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency) that provides emergency economic assistance to any private entity subject to oversight, reporting, accountability, and transparency provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Requires monthly reports to Congress on the recipients of such assistance and the collateral provided. Requires the intended recipient of such assistance, before receiving funds, to agree in writing to specified conditions regarding: (1) monthly reports to Congress; (2) access by the financial entity to relevant personnel and data; (3) limits on executive compensation; (4) prohibitions on bonuses to the recipient's 25 most highly compensated employees; (5) prohibitions on the use of assistance for entertainment and lobbying expenditures; and (6) the sale or divestiture of passenger aircraft. Considers any violation of such agreement as a default on the recipient's obligation. Directs the Attorney General to establish a Taxpayer Protection Prosecution Task Force to: (1) investigate and prosecute financial fraud that contributed to the collapse of our financial markets; (2) seek to recover any ill-gotten gains; and (3) make recommendations about extending the statute of limitation for complex financial fraud. Establishes the Financial Market Investigation and Reform Commission to: (1) report on the causes of the collapse of the nation's financial system and credit crisis; (2) report on the extent to which federal entities had information on risky or reckless financial practices that posed a threat to the financial system's well-being; (3) build on any investigations by congressional committees and federal banking agencies to avoid duplication of effort; and (4) report to the President and Congress with recommendations to prevent a similar crisis in the future.

Date: 2009-01-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Derivatives Trading Integrity Act of 2009 - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to: (1) repeal the exemption or exclusion from regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of specified derivative transactions, swap transactions, and related electronic trading facilities; (2) restrict futures trading to contract markets or derivatives transaction execution facilities; and (3) abolish exempt boards of trade.

Date: 2009-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Hedge Fund Transparency Act - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940, Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Internal Revenue Code to convert exceptions to the definition of an investment company into exemptions from mandatory registration as one. Exempts an investment company with assets, or assets under management, of at least $50 million from ordinary registration and filing requirements only if that company: (1) registers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); (2) files with the SEC a specified annual electronic information form, made available to the public, concerning ownership structure, investors, primary accountant and broker, and current assets value; (3) maintains such books and records as the SEC may require; and (4) cooperates with any request for information or examination by the SEC. Requires any investment company meeting such exemption requirements to establish an anti-money laundering program, according to rules prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and report suspicious transactions. Requires such rules to require exempted investment companies to use risk-based due diligence policies, procedures, and controls reasonably designed to ascertain the identity of, and evaluate, any foreign person that supplies funds, or plans to supply funds, to be invested with the investment company's advice or assistance. Requires such rules also to require exempted investment companies to comply with the same requirements as other financial institutions for producing records requested by a federal regulator, particularly within 120 hours of receiving such a request.

Date: 2009-01-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take specified actions to regulate short sales of securities, including: (1) reinstating regulations in effect on July 5, 2007, prohibiting short sales of securities unless the previous price movement on such securities had been upward (the uptick rule); (2) rescinding the prohibition against applying certain price tests to short sales; (3) requiring trades by short sellers to yield priority and preference to transactions effected by long sellers of securities; (4) prohibiting short sales of securities of financial institutions unless such trades are effected at a price (in minimum lots, as specified by the SEC) that is at least 5 cents higher than the immediately preceding transaction in such securities; and (5) issuing regulations that prohibit short sales unless the seller can demonstrate a legally enforceable right to deliver the securities at the required delivery date and that require all short sales to settle on the same time frame employed for long sales of the same securities.

Date: 2009-03-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 - Declares it is U.S. policy to promote peace and security in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by supporting the efforts of the DRC, other governments in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and the international community to: (1) monitor and stop commercial activities involving the natural resources of the DRC (the minerals columbite-tantalite [coltan], cassiterite, wolframite, and gold) that contribute to illegal armed groups and human rights violations in the eastern region of the DRC; and (2) develop stronger governance and economic institutions that can facilitate and improve transparency in the cross-border trade involving such natural resources in order to reduce exploitation by illegal armed groups and promote local and regional development. Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of State, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), and other appropriate U.S. officials to use the voice of the United States at the UN Security Council to renew the mandate and strengthen the capacity of the UN Group of Experts on the DRC to investigate links between such minerals and the financing of illegal armed groups. Directs the Secretary to work with UN member states and local and international organizations to: (1) produce, and make public, a map of mineral-rich zones and illegal armed groups in the eastern region of the DRC; and (2) provide guidance to commercial entities to ensure that the raw materials used in their products do not finance armed conflict, result in labor or human rights violations, or damage the environment. Requires the Secretary, working with the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to report to Congress on a strategy to address the links that exist between human rights abuses, armed groups, and the mining of the minerals in the DRC. Requires specified annual reports to cover such links. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promulgate rules to require certain persons who engage in the trade or use of coltan, cassiterite, and wolframite to disclose annually to the SEC the country of origin and mine of origin of such minerals. Expresses the sense of Congress on assistance to communities in the eastern DRC that depend economically on the mineral trade, particularly those affected by sexual and gender-based violence, as well as individuals displaced by violence.

Date: 2009-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: International affairs
Credit Rating Agency Responsibility Act of 2009 - Amends the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to audit annually each nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) to assure that the NRSRO is sufficiently disclosing its rating procedures and methodologies, they are sound, and it is adhering to them.

Date: 2009-04-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Private Fund Transparency Act of 2009 - Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to: (1) repeal the exemption from its registration requirements for private investment advisers; and (2) continue to exempt from such requirements only foreign private advisers. Authorizes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require any registered investment adviser to maintain and submit records for federal supervision of systemic risk. Shields the SEC from any compulsion to disclose any supervisory report or information that is required to be filed with the SEC. Repeals the general disclaimer that no provision of the Act shall be construed to require, or to authorize the SEC to require any investment adviser engaged in rendering investment supervisory services to disclose the identity, investments, or affairs of any of its clients. Empowers the SEC to ascribe different meanings to terms (including the term "client") used in different sections of the Act.

Date: 2009-06-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Fixed Indexed Annuities and Insurance Products Classification Act of 2009 - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to include within the class of securities exempt from its coverage any insurance or endowment policy or annuity contract or optional annuity contract: (1) whose value does not vary according to the performance of a separate account; and (2) which satisfies standard nonforfeiture laws or similar requirements of the applicable state, Territory, or District of Columbia at time of issue or, in the absence of applicable standard nonforfeiture laws or requirements, satisfies the Model Standard Nonforfeiture Law for Life Insurance or Model Standard Nonforfeiture Law for Individual Deferred Annuities, or any successor model law, as published by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Declares without force or effect Rule 151A promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 16, 2009, and entitled "Indexed Annuities and Certain Other Insurance Contracts."

Date: 2009-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Commodity Speculation Reform Act of 2009 - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to prohibit the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from issuing a no action letter to any foreign board of trade that lists a contract whose price settles on the price of a contract traded on a CFTC-regulated exchange, unless the foreign board provides the CFTC with information and data accessibility comparable to those provided the CFTC by entities under its jurisdiction. Directs the CFTC to promulgate regulations to establish and enforce speculative position limits for qualifying commodities, a methodology for aggregating specified positions, and information reporting rules to facilitate monitoring and enforcement of speculative position limits and over-the-counter commodity derivatives. Prohibits a person from holding or controlling a position, separately or in combination, net long or net short, for the purchase or sale of a commodity for future delivery or, on a futures-equivalent basis, any option, or an over-the-counter commodity derivative that exceeds CFTC speculative position limits.

Date: 2009-07-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Liability for Aiding and Abetting Securities Violations Act of 2009 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to subject to liability in a private civil action any person that knowingly or recklessly provides substantial assistance to another person (aids and abets) in violation of such Act.

Date: 2009-07-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Derivatives Market Manipulation Prevention Act of 2009 - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to prohibit swap and other derivatives market manipulation and the reporting of false information relating to swaps. Subjects violations to specified civil penalties, and grants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement powers. Extends to swaps the requirements for cease and desist orders and fines against persons (other than a registered entity) for market price manipulations and other violations. Extends private rights of action to contracts connected with a swap.

Date: 2009-09-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Comprehensive Derivatives Regulation Act of 2009 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to repeal the exclusion of swap agreements from regulatory oversight. Subjects security futures and securities futures products to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933. Requires transactions of standardized security-based swaps to take place within a registered clearing agency or a registered trade repository. Requires a significant security-based derivatives market participant to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Sets forth capital and margin requirements for such a participant, including recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Prohibits fraduluent, deceptive, or manipulative acts or practices in connection with transactions in security-based swaps and security derivatives. Directs the SEC to prescribe position limits held in a security-based swap or security derivative. Requires trading in security-based swaps to be executed on a national securities exchange. Amends the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 to repeal the exclusion of covered swap agreements transacted by a bank from the regulatory oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to require submission of a standardized commodity-based swap to a derivatives clearing organization pursuant to CFTC rules. Directs the CFTC to collect, consolidate, and disseminate information on transactions and positions in commodity-based swaps. Sets forth registration requirements for a derivatives clearing organization. Allocates regulatory authority over significant commodity-based derivatives market participants among the following entities: (1) a federal banking agency; (2) the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); (3) the CFTC; and (4) the SEC. Requires significant commodity-based derivatives market participants to register with the CFTC. Prescribes capital and margin requirements as well as recordkeeping and reporting requirements for such participants. Revises restrictions on excessive speculation. Prohibits fraduluent, deceptive, or manipulative acts or practices in connection with transactions in commodity-based swaps. Requires registration of commodity-based swap execution facilities. Allocates enforcement powers among the following entities with respect to commodity-based derivatives market participants: (1) the CFTC; (2) the SEC; (3) the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); and (4) the appropriate federal banking agency. Directs the CFTC and the SEC to promulgate rules: (1) requiring clearing agencies and derivatives clearing organizations to have risk management controls to assure their ability to meet settlement obligations; and (2) for determining the status of certain derivatives. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on implementation of this Act by the CFTC and the SEC.

Date: 2009-09-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Wall Street Fair Share Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on securities trading facilities, brokers, and purchasers for certain securities transactions. Sets such tax at .25% of the fair market value of the security traded. Defines "security" to include stock in a corporation, partnership interests, debt instruments, or interests in certain derivative financial instruments. Exempts from such tax an initial issue of securities, transactions in certain retirement, education, and health savings accounts, and transactions in mutual funds. Allows the purchaser of securities a credit against the excise tax for the lesser of the tax incurred or $250 ($500 for married couples filing joint tax returns). Requires withholding of excise tax amounts by the transferor of securities subject to the tax.

Date: 2009-12-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Citizens Right to Know Act of 2010 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers of securities to disclose to their shareholders electioneering communications they have made or in which they have participated. Prohibits an issuer from making or participating in any electioneering communication if 51% or more of its outstanding securities are owned or controlled by a foreign principal or agent of a foreign principal. Requires an issuer to obtain prior approval by majority vote of all shareholders before making or participating in any electioneering communication. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require that: (1) audio and television communications be made by the president or chief executive officer of the corporation paying for such communications; and (2) they identify the individual by name and position. Requires a communication paid for by an organization other than a corporation to include a statement listing the names of the three persons making the largest aggregate contributions to the organization during the 12-month period before the date of the communication. Sets forth Internet disclosure requirements for contributors to certain radio and television ads that are electioneering communications.

Date: 2010-02-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Maintaining Agency Direction on Financial Fraud Act - Prohibits any interpretive guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission which relates to "Commission Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change" from taking effect with respect to any person on or after February 2, 2010.

Date: 2010-02-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Protect Our Recovery Through Oversight of Proprietary Trading Act of 2010 or the PROP Trading Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to prohibit a banking entity from: (1) engaging in proprietary trading; or (2) having an ownership interest in or sponsoring a hedge fund or a private equity fund. Subjects any specified nonbank financial company holding such proprietary trading and ownership interests to additional capital requirements and additional quantitative limits. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to adopt rules jointly to implement this Act. Authorizes the Board and the FDIC to exclude from such prohibitions specified transactions or activities, including: (1) the purchase or sale of obligations of the United States or any federal agency; (2) instruments issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac); and (3) obligations of any state or its political subdivision. Prohibits from the class of excluded activities any transactions that would: (1) result in a material conflict of interest between the banking entity or the nonbank financial company and its clients, customers, or counterparties; (2) result in exposure to high risk assets or high risk trading strategies; (3) threaten the safety and soundness of a banking entity or the nonbank financial company; or (4) threaten the financial stability of the United States. Prohibits any banking entity that serves, directly or indirectly, as the investment manager or investment adviser to a hedge fund or private equity fund from entering into a covered transaction with, or provide custody, securities lending, or other prime brokerage services to, such person. Treats a banking entity that serves as investment manager or investment adviser to a hedge fund or private equity fund as if: (1) it were a member bank subject to the Federal Reserve Act; and (2) the hedge fund or private equity fund were an affiliate thereof. Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to prohibit an underwriter, placement agent, initial purchaser, or sponsor of an asset-backed security, while the security is outstanding and held by unaffiliated investors, from engaging in any transaction that would: (1) give rise to any material conflict of interest with respect to any investor; or (2) undermine the value, risk, or performance of such security

Date: 2010-03-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2010 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the small issuer exemption from interest expense allocation rules for financial institutions to: (1) permanently increase from $10 million to $30 million the annual limit on small issuers of tax-exempt municipal bonds; and (2) allow an inflation adjustment to such increased limit amount after 2011.

Date: 2010-05-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Section 8(a) Improvements Act of 2010 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) assign each North American Industry Classification System industry code to a category of either manufacturing, construction, professional services, or general services; and (2) for each category, establish a maximum net worth for the socially disadvantaged individuals who own or control small businesses in that category, for purposes of participation in a program for the award of federal procurement subcontracts to socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses (program). Requires an annual inflationary adjustment to the average income and maximum net worth limits of owners of such businesses, as well as a temporary adjustment within the first 30 days after the enactment of this Act. Establishes a transition period of three years after a small business has graduated from the 8(a) program, during which period such business may receive developmental assistance through the SBA. Requires the Comptroller General and the Administrator to each evaluate the program and report evaluation results to the congressional small business committees. Directs the Administrator to establish a surety bond pilot program under which the Administrator may guarantee any surety against loss resulting from a breach of the terms of a bid bond, payment bond, performance bond, or bonds ancillary thereto by a participating eligible small business. Allows the Administrator, under the pilot program, to pay a surety up to 90% of the loss incurred. Requires the Administrator to provide, for up to three years, technical assistance and educational training to a small business participating in the pilot program. Establishes a pilot program advisory board and a Small Business Surety Bond Pilot Program Fund.

Date: 2010-06-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal the prohibition of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act against compelling the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose records or information obtained from registered persons pursuant to its regulatory or oversight activities. Declares that for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): (1) the SEC is an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; and (2) any entity for which the SEC is the responsible regulator, supervisor, or examiner under such Act is a financial institution. (Thus retains the general exemption from FOIA of matters contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of the SEC and any other agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.) Amends the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act to repeal similar prohibitions against compelling the SEC to disclose records or information provided to it by a registered investment company or investment adviser, or an underwriter, broker, dealer, or investment adviser that is a majority-owned subsidiary of such a company, for SEC use in furtherance of certain purposes, including surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.

Date: 2010-08-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to make permanent the increase from $2 million to $5 million in the surety bond guaranty limit of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Relieves the SBA from reimbursing the surety if: (1) the surety obtained such guarantee or agreement, or applied for such reimbursement, by fraud or material misrepresentation; (2) the total contract amount at the time of bond execution exceeds $5 million; (3) the surety has breached a material term or condition of such guarantee agreement; or (4) the surety has substantially violated regulations promulgated by the SBA.

Date: 2010-09-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to make permanent the authorized increase in surety bond guaranty limits by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Date: 2010-09-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Commerce
Church Plan Investment Clarification Act - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 with respect to when certain securities issued in connection with retirement income accounts available only to certain kinds of church plans are treated as exempted from registration and disclosure requirements under such Act (exempted securities). Considers as an exempted security a certain kind of retirement income account (available only to church plans), to the extent that the interest or participation in a single trust fund or collective trust fund (e.g., a "stable value fund") is issued to: (1) a church, a convention or association of churches, or a specified kind of organization (including a church pension board established to maintain employee benefit programs) which establishes or maintains the retirement income account; or (2) a trust established by any such entity in connection with the retirement income account. Revises a further such exclusion from exempted security treatment of plans whose participants may include persons (in particular clergymen) who may be considered self-employed for certain tax purposes. Allows exempted security treatment of such plans. (In effect, an exemption from registration and related requirements is granted to collective trust funds that are invested in by kinds of church plans currently excluded from making such investments.)

Date: 2011-01-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require securities issuers to disclose in their mandatory annual or quarterly reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whether they or their affiliates have: (1) engaged in certain activities relating to Iran, terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; (2) knowingly engaged in specified activities, or knowingly violated certain regulations prescribed under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010; (3) knowingly conducted any transaction or dealing with a person whose property and interests in property are blocked by certain Executive Orders; or (4) knowingly conducted a transaction or dealing with any person listed in the Iranian Transactions Regulations. Specifies the contents of mandatory disclosures. Requires the President to: (1) initiate an investigation into the possible imposition of sanctions when the SEC receives a report that an issuer or its affiliate has engaged in the cited activities; and (2) determine within 180 days of initiating an investigation whether sanctions should be imposed on the issuer or the affiliate concerned. Directs the SEC to make publicly available the information it has received, and to provide it to the President and to certain congressional committees. Requires promulgation within 90 days after enactment of this Act of regulations governing financial institutions maintaining accounts for foreign financial institutions.

Date: 2011-02-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to taxation of U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations, to permanently extend the subpart F exemption (which excludes such income from the shareholder's foreign personal holding company income) for active financing (insurance, banking, financing, or similar businesses) income earned on business operations overseas.

Date: 2011-02-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Taxation
Equitable Treatment of Investors Act - Amends the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 to revise the definition of "net equity." States that, in determining net equity, the positions, options, and contracts of a customer held by the debtor, and any indebtedness of the customer to the debtor, shall be determined based on: (1) the information contained in the last statement received by the customer from the debtor before the filing date; and (2) any additional specific confirmations of the customer's positions, options, contracts, or indebtedness received after such last statement but before the filing date. Prohibits reliance on the final statement of the debtor to customer, however, if the customer: (1) knew the debtor was involved in fraudulent activity with respect to any of its customers; or (2) as a registered broker, dealer, or investment adviser under specified securities laws, or a person required to be so registered, knew, or should have known, that the debtor was involved in such a fraudulent activity and did not notify the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or law enforcement personnel that the debtor was so involved. Prohibits a trustee in bankruptcy in a liquidation proceeding from recovering any property transferred by the debtor to a customer before the filing date unless, at the time of such transfer, the customer meets the same criteria. Transfers from SIPC to the SEC authority to nominate to a court persons for appointment as trustee for the liquidation of a debtor's business and as attorney for the trustee.

Date: 2011-02-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Securities & Commodities)
Subject: Finance and financial sector