| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | DSESSION S. 3815 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to promulgate rules with |
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| 6 | 6 | | respect to the electronic delivery of certain required disclosures, and |
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| 7 | 7 | | for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY27, 2024 |
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| 10 | 10 | | By Mr. T |
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| 11 | 11 | | HUNE(for Mr. TILLIS(for himself and Mr. HICKENLOOPER)) intro- |
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| 12 | 12 | | duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- |
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| 13 | 13 | | mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to pro- |
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| 16 | 16 | | mulgate rules with respect to the electronic delivery of |
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| 17 | 17 | | certain required disclosures, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Disclosure 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | for Investors Act of 2024’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | In this Act: 7 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) C |
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| 26 | 26 | | OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 8 |
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| 27 | 27 | | means the Securities and Exchange Commission. 9 |
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| 29 | 29 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 31 | 31 | | (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en-1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | tity’’ means— 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (A) an investment company, as defined in 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act 4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–3(a)(1)), that is reg-5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | istered under such Act; 6 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (B) a business development company, as 7 |
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| 38 | 38 | | defined in section 2(a) the Investment Company 8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–2(a)); 9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (C) a registered broker or dealer, as those 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | terms are defined in section 3(a) of the Securi-11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ties Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (D) a registered municipal securities deal-13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | er, as defined in section 3(a) of the Securities 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (E) a registered government securities 16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | broker or government securities dealer, as de-17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | fined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (F) a registered investment adviser, as de-20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | fined in section 202(a) of the Investment Advis-21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–1(a)); 22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (G) a registered transfer agent, as defined 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); or 25 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 59 | 59 | | (H) a registered funding portal, as defined 1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | of 1934) (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)). 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (3) E |
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| 63 | 63 | | LECTRONIC DELIVERY .—The term ‘‘elec-4 |
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| 64 | 64 | | tronic delivery’’, with respect to regulatory docu-5 |
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| 65 | 65 | | ments, includes— 6 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (A) the direct delivery of such regulatory 7 |
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| 67 | 67 | | document to an electronic address of an inves-8 |
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| 68 | 68 | | tor; 9 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (B) the posting of such regulatory docu-10 |
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| 70 | 70 | | ment to a website and direct electronic delivery 11 |
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| 71 | 71 | | of an appropriate notice of the availability of 12 |
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| 72 | 72 | | the regulatory document to the investor; and 13 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (C) an electronic method reasonably de-14 |
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| 74 | 74 | | signed to ensure receipt of such regulatory doc-15 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ument by the investor. 16 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (4) R |
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| 77 | 77 | | EGULATORY DOCUMENTS .—The term 17 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ‘‘regulatory documents’’ includes— 18 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (A) prospectuses meeting the requirements 19 |
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| 80 | 80 | | of section 10(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 20 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (15 U.S.C. 77j(a)); 21 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (B) summary prospectuses meeting the re-22 |
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| 83 | 83 | | quirements of section 230.498 or 230.498A of 23 |
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| 84 | 84 | | title 17, Code of Federal Regulations; 24 |
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| 87 | 87 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 88 | 88 | | (C) Statements of Additional Information, 1 |
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| 89 | 89 | | as defined in section 270.30e–3(h) of title 17, 2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | Code of Federal Regulations; 3 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (D) annual and semiannual reports to in-4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | vestors meeting the requirements of section 5 |
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| 93 | 93 | | 30(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 6 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (15 U.S.C. 80a–29(e)); 7 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (E) notices meeting the requirements of 8 |
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| 96 | 96 | | section 270.19a–1 of title 17, Code of Federal 9 |
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| 97 | 97 | | Regulations; 10 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (F) confirmations and account statements 11 |
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| 99 | 99 | | meeting the requirements of section 240.10b–10 12 |
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| 100 | 100 | | of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations; 13 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (G) proxy statements meeting the require-14 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ments of section 240.14a–3 of title 17, Code of 15 |
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| 103 | 103 | | Federal Regulations; 16 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (H) privacy notices meeting the require-17 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ments of Regulation S–P under subpart A of 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | part 248 of title 17, Code of Federal Regula-19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | tions; 20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (I) affiliate marketing notices meeting the 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | requirements of Regulation S–AM under sub-22 |
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| 110 | 110 | | part B of part 248 of title 17, Code of Federal 23 |
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| 111 | 111 | | Regulations; and 24 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 114 | 114 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 115 | 115 | | (J) all other regulatory documents re-1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | quired to be delivered by covered entities to in-2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | vestors under the securities laws and the rules 3 |
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| 118 | 118 | | and regulations of the Commission and the self- 4 |
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| 119 | 119 | | regulatory organizations. 5 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (5) S |
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| 121 | 121 | | ECURITIES LAWS.—The term ‘‘securities 6 |
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| 122 | 122 | | laws’’ has the meaning given the term in section 7 |
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| 123 | 123 | | 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 8 |
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| 124 | 124 | | U.S.C. 78c(a)). 9 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (6) S |
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| 126 | 126 | | ELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATION .—The 10 |
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| 127 | 127 | | term ‘‘self-regulatory organization’’ means a self- 11 |
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| 128 | 128 | | regulatory organization, as defined in section 3(a) of 12 |
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| 129 | 129 | | the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 13 |
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| 130 | 130 | | 78c(a)). 14 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (7) W |
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| 132 | 132 | | EBSITE.—The term ‘‘website’’ means an 15 |
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| 133 | 133 | | internet website or other digital, internet, or elec-16 |
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| 134 | 134 | | tronic-based information repository, such as a mobile 17 |
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| 135 | 135 | | application, to which an investor of a covered entity 18 |
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| 136 | 136 | | has been provided reasonable access. 19 |
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| 137 | 137 | | SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC DELIVERY. 20 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (a) P |
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| 139 | 139 | | ROMULGATION OF RULES.—Not later than 180 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 22 |
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| 141 | 141 | | Commission shall propose and, not later than 1 year after 23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | the date of the enactment of this section, the Commission 24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | shall finalize, rules, regulations, amendments, or interpre-25 |
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| 145 | 145 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 146 | 146 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 147 | 147 | | tations, as appropriate, to allow a covered entity to satisfy 1 |
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| 148 | 148 | | the obligation of the entity to deliver regulatory documents 2 |
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| 149 | 149 | | required under the securities laws to investors using elec-3 |
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| 150 | 150 | | tronic delivery. 4 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (b) R |
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| 152 | 152 | | EQUIREDPROVISIONS.—Rules, regulations, 5 |
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| 153 | 153 | | amendments, or interpretations the Commission promul-6 |
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| 154 | 154 | | gates pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 7 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (1) with respect to investors that do not receive 8 |
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| 156 | 156 | | all regulatory documents by electronic delivery, pro-9 |
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| 157 | 157 | | vide for— 10 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (A) delivery of an initial communication in 11 |
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| 159 | 159 | | paper form regarding electronic delivery; 12 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (B) a transition period not to exceed 180 13 |
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| 161 | 161 | | days until such regulatory documents are deliv-14 |
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| 162 | 162 | | ered to such investors by electronic delivery; 15 |
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| 163 | 163 | | and 16 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (C) during a period not to exceed 2 years 17 |
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| 165 | 165 | | following the transition period set forth in sub-18 |
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| 166 | 166 | | paragraph (B), delivery of an annual notice in 19 |
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| 167 | 167 | | paper form solely reminding such investors of 20 |
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| 168 | 168 | | the ability to opt out of electronic delivery at 21 |
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| 169 | 169 | | any time and receive paper versions of regu-22 |
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| 170 | 170 | | latory documents; 23 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (2) set forth requirements for the content of the 24 |
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| 172 | 172 | | initial communication described in paragraph (1)(A); 25 |
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| 175 | 175 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 176 | 176 | | (3) set forth requirements for the timing of de-1 |
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| 177 | 177 | | livery of a notice of website availability of regulatory 2 |
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| 178 | 178 | | documents and the content of the appropriate notice 3 |
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| 179 | 179 | | described in section 2(3)(B); 4 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (4) provide a mechanism for investors to opt 5 |
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| 181 | 181 | | out of electronic delivery at any time and receive 6 |
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| 182 | 182 | | paper versions of regulatory documents; 7 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (5) require measures reasonably designed to 8 |
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| 184 | 184 | | identify and remediate failed electronic deliveries of 9 |
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| 185 | 185 | | regulatory documents; 10 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (6) set forth minimum requirements regarding 11 |
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| 187 | 187 | | readability and retainability for regulatory docu-12 |
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| 188 | 188 | | ments that are delivered electronically; and 13 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (7) for covered entities other than brokers, 14 |
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| 190 | 190 | | dealers, investment advisers registered with the 15 |
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| 191 | 191 | | Commission, and investment companies, require 16 |
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| 192 | 192 | | measures reasonably designed to ensure the con-17 |
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| 193 | 193 | | fidentiality of personal information in regulatory 18 |
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| 194 | 194 | | documents that are delivered to investors electroni-19 |
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| 195 | 195 | | cally. 20 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (c) T |
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| 197 | 197 | | REATMENT OFREVISIONSNOTCOMPLETED IN 21 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ATIMELYMANNER.—If the Commission fails to finalize 22 |
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| 199 | 199 | | the rules, regulations, amendments, or interpretations re-23 |
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| 200 | 200 | | quired under subsection (a) before the date specified in 24 |
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| 201 | 201 | | such subsection— 25 |
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| 204 | 204 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 205 | 205 | | (1) a covered entity may deliver regulatory doc-1 |
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| 206 | 206 | | uments using electronic delivery in accordance with 2 |
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| 207 | 207 | | subsection (b); and 3 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (2) such electronic delivery shall be deemed to 4 |
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| 209 | 209 | | satisfy the obligation of the covered entity to deliver 5 |
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| 210 | 210 | | regulatory documents required under the securities 6 |
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| 211 | 211 | | laws. 7 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (d) O |
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| 213 | 213 | | THERREQUIREDACTIONS.— 8 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (1) R |
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| 215 | 215 | | EVIEW OF RULES .—The Commission 9 |
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| 216 | 216 | | shall— 10 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (A) not later than 180 days after the date 11 |
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| 218 | 218 | | of enactment of this Act, conduct a review of 12 |
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| 219 | 219 | | the rules and regulations of the Commission to 13 |
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| 220 | 220 | | determine whether any such rules or regulations 14 |
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| 221 | 221 | | require delivery of written documents to inves-15 |
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| 222 | 222 | | tors; and 16 |
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| 223 | 223 | | (B) not later than 1 year after the date of 17 |
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| 224 | 224 | | enactment of this Act, promulgate amendments 18 |
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| 225 | 225 | | to such rules or regulations to provide that any 19 |
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| 226 | 226 | | requirement to deliver a regulatory document in 20 |
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| 227 | 227 | | writing may be satisfied by electronic delivery. 21 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (2) A |
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| 229 | 229 | | CTIONS BY SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZA -22 |
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| 230 | 230 | | TIONS.—Each self-regulatory organization shall 23 |
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| 231 | 231 | | adopt rules and regulations, or amend the rules and 24 |
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| 232 | 232 | | regulations of the self-regulatory organization, con-25 |
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| 235 | 235 | | •S 3815 IS |
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| 236 | 236 | | sistent with this Act and consistent with rules, regu-1 |
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| 237 | 237 | | lations, amendments, or interpretations finalized by 2 |
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| 238 | 238 | | the Commission pursuant to subsection (a). 3 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (3) A |
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| 240 | 240 | | PPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall not 4 |
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| 241 | 241 | | apply to a rule or regulation issued pursuant to a 5 |
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| 242 | 242 | | Federal statute if that Federal statute specifically 6 |
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| 243 | 243 | | requires delivery of written documents to investors. 7 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (e) E |
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| 245 | 245 | | XEMPTIONFROMCERTAINREQUIREMENTS.— 8 |
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| 246 | 246 | | Section 101(c) of the Electronic Signatures in Global and 9 |
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| 247 | 247 | | National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7001(c)) shall not 10 |
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| 248 | 248 | | apply with respect to a regulatory document delivered in 11 |
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| 249 | 249 | | accordance with this section. 12 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (f) R |
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| 251 | 251 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-13 |
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| 252 | 252 | | tion shall be construed as altering the substance or timing 14 |
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| 253 | 253 | | of any regulatory document obligation under the securities 15 |
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| 254 | 254 | | laws or regulations of a self-regulatory organization. 16 |
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| 255 | 255 | | Æ |
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