By unanimous consent, Senate conferees approved the bi-partisan Leahy Amendment, which is an antifraud amendment that Senator Leahy had offered on the Senate floor (SA 3794). The amendment was not voted on before the Senate passed the bill. As of last night, the House had not acted on the Leahy Amendment.
The Leahy Amendment would add new Section 1079A to the bill to amend the US criminal code to increase the statute of limitations for securities fraud violations from five to six years, which aligns it with the current statute of limitations in tax fraud cases. The amendment would also direct the US Sentencing Commission to review and amend the federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements for offenses related to securities fraud and financial institution fraud to reflect the intent of Congress that penalties for the offenses appropriately account for the potential and actual harm to the public and the financial markets from the offenses.