Responsible Accounting Standards Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4565 To amend the Securities Act of 1933 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a rule to apply the Administrative Procedure Act to the adoption of accounting principles by the standard setting body, and to require the standard setting body to consider, in adopting account- ing principles, the impact such principles will have on the broader U.S. economy, market stability, and availability of credit. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 Mr. LUETKEMEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To amend the Securities Act of 1933 to require the Securi- ties and Exchange Commission to issue a rule to apply the Administrative Procedure Act to the adoption of ac- counting principles by the standard setting body, and to require the standard setting body to consider, in adopting accounting principles, the impact such prin- ciples will have on the broader U.S. economy, market stability, and availability of credit. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4565.IH H4565 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4565 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsible Account- 2 ing Standards Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTION OF 4 ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES. 5 Section 19(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 6 U.S.C. 77s(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR ADOP- 9 TION OF ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES.—The Commis- 10 sion shall issue a rule requiring a standard setting 11 body described in paragraph (1) to follow procedures 12 when adopting an accounting principle that are as 13 close as practicable to those requirements for a Fed- 14 eral agency issuing a rule under chapter 5 of title 15 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 16 ‘Administrative Procedure Act’).’’. 17 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING 18 PRINCIPLES ON THE BROADER U.S. ECON- 19 OMY, MARKET STABILITY, AND AVAILABILITY 20 OF CREDIT. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 19(b)(1)(A)(v) of the Se- 22 curities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77s(b)) is amended by 23 inserting after ‘‘investors’’ the following: ‘‘, and the impact 24 such accounting principles will have on the broader U.S. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4565.IH H4565 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4565 IH economy, market stability, and availability of credit (par- 1 ticularly for low- and moderate-income borrowers)’’. 2 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 6-month 3 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, any 4 standard setting body described in section 19(b)(1) of the 5 Securities Act of 1933 shall issue a report to the Securi- 6 ties and Exchange Commission and the Congress con- 7 taining a list of changes the standard setting body has 8 made or will make in order to ensure that the standard 9 setting body takes into consideration the impact of ac- 10 counting principles on the broader U.S. economy, market 11 stability, and availability of credit, as required by the 12 amendment made under subsection (a). 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4565.IH H4565 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS