Financial Planning Coalition Applauds Rep. Bachus’ Co-Sponsorship of H.R. 1627

The Financial Planning Coalition applauds Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), the Chairman Emeritus of the House Financial Services Committee, for becoming a co-sponsor of H.R. 1627, the Investment Adviser Examination Improvement Act of 2013.

This bill, introduced by Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), would authorize the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to collect reasonable user fees from SEC-registered investment advisers for the sole purpose of increasing the dangerously low number of examinations the SEC currently conducts.

“We commend Rep. Bachus’ decision, as well as the decisions of the 14 additional Members of Congress who have recently signed on as co-sponsors of this important investor protection measure,” said the Coalition. “This support demonstrates that investor protection is not a partisan issue and we expect to see the number of co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle continue to grow.  Further, their decisions highlight that a user fee is a sensible solution to the vexing resource problem at the SEC – a solution that industry supports and that has no impact on the federal budget.  We look forward to continuing to support this legislation and to working with all Members of Congress who want to improve protections for American investors.”

The Financial Planning Coalition is a strong supporter of H.R. 1627 as the most cost-effective, efficient and industry-supported way of providing the SEC with the necessary resources to protect American investors – particularly in light of Congress’ failure to appropriate sufficient funds. Due to a chronic lack of resources, the SEC currently is able to examine only about nine percent of the approximately 11,000 investment advisers registered with the agency.  This amounts to investment advisers being examined at the unacceptable rate of about once every 11 years. 

H.R. 1627 is a targeted solution to the persistent resource gap at the SEC that would: 1) limit the use of collected fees to the SEC’s examination program; 2) require that the SEC determine the fees through a public rulemaking; 3) require the SEC to take into account factors such as the investment adviser’s size and assets under management when determining a fee; and 4) require the Comptroller General to conduct an audit of the funds’ use every two years.

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