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To amend the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 with respect to the determination of violations.
Summary
The bill amends four major securities laws to clarify how violations are counted for penalty purposes. It establishes that separate acts of noncompliance should be treated as a single violation when they result from a common originating cause, the same misstatement or omission, or a continuing failure to comply. This applies to enforcement actions under the Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Investment Company Act of 1940, and Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The change affects how civil penalties are calculated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for violations across these laws.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Pete Sessions’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- BANKERS LIFE $12,400
- ELEMENTS MASSAGE $12,400
- DEASON CAPITAL SERVICES $11,900
- NULL $10,900
- HIGHLANDER PARTNERS $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Pete Sessions → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jan 7, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. · house
- Jan 7, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Meetings where this bill was on the agenda
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 7, 2025
Mr. Sessions introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 with respect to the determination of violations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Securities Enforcement Clarity Act of 2025” or the “SEC Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF THE NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS.
(a) Securities Act of 1933.—The Securities Act of 1933 is amended—
(1) in section 8A(g) (15 U.S.C. 77h-1(g)), by adding at the end the following:
“(4) Determination of number of violations.—For purposes of determining the number of violations for which to impose penalties under paragraph (1), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”; and
(2) in section 20(d) (15 U.S.C. 77t(d)), by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Determination of number of violations.—For purposes of determining the number of violations for which to impose penalties under paragraph (1), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”.
(b) Securities Exchange Act of 1934.—The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended—
(1) in section 21(d)(3) (15 U.S.C. 78u(d)(3)), by adding at the end the following:
“(E) Determination of number of violations.—For purposes of determining the number of violations for which to impose penalties under subparagraph (A)(i), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation when the acts are the result of—
“(i) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(ii) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(iii) a continuing failure to comply.”;
(2) in section 21B(a) (15 U.S.C. 78u-2(b)), by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Determination of number of violations, acts, or omissions.—For purposes of determining the number of violations, acts, or omissions for which to impose penalties under this subsection, separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation, act, or omission when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”; and
(3) in section 32 (15 U.S.C. 78ff), by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Determination of Number of Violations.—For purposes of determining the number of violations for which to impose penalties under subsection (c), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation when the acts are the result of—
“(1) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(2) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(3) a continuing failure to comply.”.
(c) Investment Company Act of 1940.—The Investment Company Act of 1940 is amended—
(1) in section 9(d) (15 U.S.C. 80a-9(d)), by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Determination of number of violations, acts, or omissions.—For purposes of determining the number of violations, acts, or omissions for which to impose penalties under paragraph (1), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation, act, or omission when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”; and
(2) in section 42(e) (15 U.S.C. 80a-41(e)), by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Determination of number of violations.—For purposes of determining the number of violations for which to impose penalties under paragraph (1), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”.
(d) Investment Advisors Act of 1940.—The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is amended—
(1) in section 203(i) (15 U.S.C. 80b-3(i)), by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Determination of number of violations, acts, or omissions.—For purposes of determining the number of violations, acts, or omissions for which to impose penalties under paragraph (1), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation, act, or omission when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”; and
(2) in section 209(e) (15 U.S.C. 80b-9(e)), by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Determination of number of violations.—For purposes of determining the number of violations for which to impose penalties under paragraph (1), separate acts of noncompliance are a single violation when the acts are the result of—
“(A) a common or a substantially overlapping originating cause;
“(B) the same misstatement or omission; or
“(C) a continuing failure to comply.”. <all>
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