2013: The Road Ahead

While we expect the 113th Congress to focus much of its attention on trying to resolve the nation’s fiscal issues, state securities regulators are watching three areas for possible congressional interest this year. They include:

• attempts to delay or derail Dodd-Frank-mandated regulations;
• another round of JOBS Act-related legislation (call it JOBS Act 2.0); and
• the lingering question of self-regulation for investment advisers.

Each of these areas will be addressed in the legislative agenda NASAA plans to unveil next month. Our agenda will be aggressive and will empower NASAA to speak with a reasoned and unbiased voice on behalf of small investors, whose voices cannot be heard over the din of the lobbyists and industry, while striking the most appropriate balance between industry and investors.

Dodd-Frank Implementation

During the 112th Congress, we saw a legislative attempt to stall Dodd-Frank implementation by requiring independent regulatory agencies to submit proposed rules to the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review and analysis, including cost-benefit analysis, prior to being finalized.

“By empowering OIRA in this manner, S. 3468 could have profound, chilling affects on the ability of independent regulatory agencies to adopt rules that effectively protect the investing public,” NASAA wrote in a November 2012 letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs opposing the legislation.

The clock ran out before this legislation could begin to move through the 112th Congress, but we expect legislation along this theme to continue, and possibly expand, in the 113th Congress.