This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to consider the Small Business Capital Formation Enhancement Act (H.R. 1312), which is a bill that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review, on an annual basis, the government-business forum on capital formation held pursuant to the Small Business Investment Incentive Act of 1980.
Specifically, the bill would amend Section 503 of the Small Business Investment Incentive Act by requiring the SEC to promptly issue a public statement assessing the findings or recommendations of the forum and disclose the action, if any, the SEC intends to take with respect to the forum’s findings or recommendations.
Since 1982, the SEC has hosted an annual forum that focuses on the capital formation concerns of small businesses. A major purpose of the forum is to provide a platform to highlight perceived unnecessary impediments to small business capital formation and address whether they can be eliminated or reduced.
The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) on March 2, does not require the SEC to agree to or act upon any finding or recommendation of the forum.
Also this week, May 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be hosting a field hearing on small business lending in Los Angeles.
While appearing before the House Financial Services Committee to give the bureau’s semi-annual report to Congress, CFPB Director Richard Cordray was criticized for prioritizing discretionary rulemakings as opposed to following through on the Dodd-Frank Act’s mandate that the CFPB, pursuant to Section 342, to issue a proposed rule on small business data collection.
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