Funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission would be cut back under a proposed bill in the House of Representatives, ThinkAdvisor reports.
Under the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill currently being debated, the SEC’s budget for operating expenses in the next fiscal year would be $2 billion, an amount $589.3 million below the fiscal 2025 budget request and $144.3 million below the fiscal 2024 enacted level.
The bill also limits funding for the SEC’s Enforcement Division to $644 million, representing a $168 million decrease from President Biden’s budget request. In addition, the commission would be prohibited from implementing or collecting information related to the Consolidated Audit Trail. (CAT)
The CAT is a central repository created by the SEC to allow regulators to track the activity of broker-dealers throughout US markets in national market system securities.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, released a summary with other policy riders in the legislation, which he said:
– Prevents the SEC’s proposed climate/ESG rulemaking, which would require public
companies to disclose climate-related risks and emissions in their SEC filings.
– Prohibits the SEC’s proposed rulemaking on swing pricing, which Cole said would artificially alter the
share price in a “one-size-fits-all manner.”
-Prohibits the SEC from implementing or enforcing Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121, which the committee char said “implements harmful digital asset requirements.”
– Prohibits the SEC from forcing private companies to go public before they are ready.
– Continues to prohibit the SEC from requiring political contributions disclosures as part of corporate filings.
The total allocation in the appropriations bill is $23.608 billion, nearly 20% below the president’s budget request and nearly 10% below the effective spending level provided in Fiscal Year 2024.
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