The House Appropriations Committee has released the fiscal year 2013 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, which will now be considered in subcommittee. The bill provides annual funding for, among others, the Treasury Department, the Executive Office of the President, the SEC and several other independent agencies. Included in the bill is $1.4 billion for the SEC, which is $50 million above last year’s level. The legislation includes a prohibition on the SEC from spending any money out of its reserve fund established by Section 991 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which the Committee said was a fund for SEC programs that Congress has not approved.
In
addition, the legislation would require the SEC to provide Congress with a
detailed analysis of the money market fund industry and an analysis of the
effectiveness of Rule 2a-7 in promoting and enhancing money market fund stability,
resiliency, transparency and ensuring
the ability of money market funds to provide liquidity to the capital and municipal
markets.
The
bill specifically funds the SEC Office of Inspector General at $7,067,000. Also, the bill
makes up to $100,000 available for expenses for consultations and meetings
hosted by the Commission with foreign governmental and other regulatory officials,
members of their delegations and staffs to ex change views concerning
securities matters.
The bill
provides that funds made available to the CFTC and the SEC by this or any
other Act may be used for the interagency funding and sponsorship of a joint
advisory committee to advise on emerging regulatory issues.
Within 180 days of
enactment, the SEC must submit to Congress a report on increasing public
participation in the rulemaking process and reducing uncertainty; improving
coordination with other Federal agencies to eliminate redundant, inconsistent,
and overlapping
regulations; and identifying existing regulations that have been reviewed and
determined to be outmoded, ineffective or excessively burdensome.