Small Cap Liquidity Reform Act of 2014
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Small Cap Liquidity Reform Act of 2014 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to establish a pilot liquidity program for equity securities of emerging growth companies (EGCs) with total annual gross revenues of less than $750 million, under which those securities shall be quoted using either: (1) a minimum increment of $0.05 or $0.10, or (2) the increment at which the securities would be quoted without regard to such minimum increments.
Repeals the requirement for an SEC study examining the transition to trading and quoting securities in one penny increments, known as decimalization.
Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to determine, in the case of an EGC whose securities are quoted at a minimum increment of either $0.05 or $0.10, the increment at which such securities are traded.
Requires EGC securities quoted at a minimum increment of $0.05 or $0.10 to be traded at either such minimum increment or at one permitted by SEC regulations.
Permits an EGC to opt out or change such minimum increment upon notifying the SEC 90 days after enactment of this Act. Limits any EGC to a single change of minimum increment (thus prohibiting any increases in the minimum).
Requires the SEC, upon notification of an EGC election, to inform each trading venue where the EGC securities are quoted or traded.
Requires that securities of issuers that cease to be EGCs be quoted at the increment at which such securities would be quoted without regard to the minimum increments established under this Act.
Prescribes pricing and trading procedures governing securities trading below $1.00.
Directs the SEC to require an EGC under this Act to submit additional reports and disclosures.
Shields an issuer from liability for losses caused solely by the quoting or trading of its securities at a minimum increment of $0.05 or $0.10, another SEC-authorized increment, or by both such quoting and trading.
Directs the SEC to report biannually to Congress on: (1) the quoting and trading of securities in increments permitted by this Act, and (2) the extent to which such quoting and trading increases liquidity and active trading by incentivizing capital commitment, research coverage, and brokerage support.
The summary continues for 2 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on February 11, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 12, 2014: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Sean Duffy (R-WI) introduced it on November 12, 2013, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 12, 2013, 4685 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4593 days ago, on February 12, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers