Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, announced passage of the following bills under suspension of the rules:

H.R. 2796, the Promoting Opportunities for Non-Traditional Capital Formation Act is a bill offered by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) that would require the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to (1) provide educational resources and host events to promote capital-raising options for underrepresented small businesses and businesses in rural areas, and (2) meet annually with representatives of state securities commissions. 

 

Passed the House by a vote of 309-67.

 

H.R. 2795, the Enhancing Multiclass Share Disclosures Act is a bill offered by Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY) that would require an issuer with a multi-class share structure to disclose certain information regarding the voting power of specified persons, including that certain shares available to retail investors may not have the same voting power as other shares held by the founder of the company. 

 

Passed the House by a vote of 347-30.  

 

H.R. 2792, the Small Entity Update Act is a bill offered by Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO) that would direct the SEC to carry out a study and, if necessary, a rulemaking on its definitions of “small entities” under the Regulatory Flexibility Act to ensure that the SEC more carefully accounts for the impacts on small businesses when pursuing rulemakings. 

 

      Passed the House by a vote of 367-8.

 

H.R. 2797, the Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act is a bill offered by Representative Mike Flood (R-NE) that would expand the definition of “accredited investor” to include individuals who are certified through a free-of-charge examination established by the SEC and administered by FINRA. Accredited investors are permitted to generally invest in private securities, which lack the investor safeguards including certain financial disclosures of public securities. 

 

                Passed the House by a vote of 383-18.