Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2018
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2018
This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt from that Act's registration requirements merger-and-acquisition brokers that facilitate transfer of ownership in privately held companies with earnings or revenues under a specified threshold. This exemption shall not apply, however, to brokers that:
receive, hold, transmit, or have custody of funds or securities to be exchanged by parties to an ownership transfer;
engage on behalf of an issuer in a public offering of registered securities;
engage on behalf of any party in a transaction involving specified shell companies;
provide financing related to the transfer of ownership;
assist any party to obtain financing from a third party in specified circumstances;
represent both buyer and seller without disclosure and consent from both parties;
facilitate a transaction with a group of buyers formed with the assistance of the broker;
engage in transferring ownership to a passive buyer;
bind a party to a transfer of ownership; or
are subject to suspension or revocation of registration or to other specified disqualifications.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 27, 2018. 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 September 27, 2018: 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 Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced it on September 27, 2018, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 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 September 27, 2018, 2905 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2905 days ago, on September 27, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers