{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1219-115/featured_supporting-america-s-innovators-act-of-2017-1491258140.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1219-115/featured_large_supporting-america-s-innovators-act-of-2017-1491258140.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1219-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-02-27","title_override":"Should Fewer Venture Capital Funds be Subject to SEC Regulations?","summary_override":"

This bill changes how Venture Capital (VC) funds are defined. Specifically, it increases the number of investors that a VC fund can have before being classified as an investment company from 100 to 500. Investment companies are required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and are subject to numerous regulations under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Additionally, the bill redefines VC funds as groups that invest less than $10 million in a single company. Funds that invest more than $10 million in a company aren’t exempt from regulations and registering with the SEC.

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires investment companies to do 5 things:

Register with the SEC;
Have a board of directors, of which 75% of the members are independent from the company;
Limit their use of certain investment strategies;
Maintain a certain percentage of their money for investors who want to leave the company;
Disclose their structure, financial condition, investment policies, and objectives to investors.

","official_title":"To amend the Investment Company Act of 1940 to expand the investor limitation for qualifying venture capital funds under an exemption from the definition of an investment company.","short_title":"Supporting America's Innovators Act of 2017","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)\n\nSupporting America's Innovators Act of 2017\n\n(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to exempt from the definition of an \"investment company,\" for purposes of specified limitations applicable to such a company under the Act, a qualifying venture capital fund that has no more than 250 investors. Specifically, the bill applies to a venture capital fund that has less than $10 million in aggregate capital contributions and uncalled committed capital.\n\nUnder current law, a venture capital fund is considered to be an investment company if it has more than 100 investors.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"VC funds that have less than 500 investors; VC funds that invest more than $10 million in one company; businesses seeking funding from VC funds; the SEC.","argument_for":"Allowing more VC funds to be free from SEC regulations will help those VC funds spend more on helping small businesses and startups and less on complying with regulations.","argument_against":"This bill allows VC funds to escape SEC regulations that ensure that investors in the fund and businesses receiving funding are protected from potential abuse by the fund managers.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr1219-115","bill_id":"hr1219-115","formal_id":"H.R. 1219","chamber":"house","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2017-04-06T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2017-04-06T14:32:46.000Z","debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/1219","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115hr1219ih/html/BILLS-115hr1219ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1219-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/1219/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2017-02-27","related_bill_ids":["s444-115","s2155-115","hres242-115"],"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":731,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Financial Services","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSBA","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSBK","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr1219-115","details":"/api/bills/hr1219-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr1219-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr1219-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr1219-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":4,"slug":"hr1219-115-supporting-america-s-innovators-act-of-2017","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr1219-115","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":7530,"yea_vote_count":1286,"nay_vote_count":6223,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["financial-markets","economy"],"issue_ids":["private-sector","business","financial-markets","federal-agencies","economy"],"sponsor_id":323}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"private-sector","name":"Private Sector","slug":"private-sector","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Private Sector. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. ","page_title":"Private Sector Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/private-sector/black_private-sector-1429042058.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/private-sector/grey_private-sector-1429042058.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/private-sector/white_private-sector-1429042058.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"business","name":"Business","slug":"business","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Business. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. ","page_title":"Business Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/business/black_business-1429042053.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/business/grey_business-1429042053.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/business/white_business-1429042053.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"financial-markets","name":"Financial Markets","slug":"financial-markets","description":"Regulations for the US financial Markets - including Banking, Securities, Insurance, Currency and the Credit Markets. Legislation can also cover foreign loans, corporations and debt.","page_title":"Federal legislation related to regulating US financial markets and the US Currency - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/financial-markets/black_financial-markets-1429042042.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/financial-markets/grey_financial-markets-1429042042.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/financial-markets/white_financial-markets-1429042042.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"federal-agencies","name":"Federal Agencies","slug":"federal-agencies","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Federal Agencies. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Federal Agencies Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/black_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/grey_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/white_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"economy","name":"Economy","slug":"economy","description":"The US Economy is heavily impacted by Federal legislation. Here you can find bills encompassing US monetary policy, the US Federal Budget, overall government spending, appropriations and how we handle the US federal debt and state finances. ","page_title":"Legislation related to the US Economy, monetary policy, the federal budget and government spending - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/economy/black_economy-1429042041.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/economy/grey_economy-1429042041.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/economy/white_economy-1429042041.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Carole","vote_count":329,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/1391935004163030/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/1391935004163030/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/1391935004163030/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1391935004163030/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/GWde5bvZ/following","followers":"/api/users/GWde5bvZ/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":14,"is_following":null,"influence_score":375,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":6,"following_count":14,"position_count":136,"id":"GWde5bvZ","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"e0c9bcf2-bdc1-4603-8117-3cd047f8e0f4","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"We all have learned by now fund managers protect themselves first, client second. No matter how honest a person is their is a need to protect the investor. I expect my representatives to do so, if not, I will vote for others.","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":0,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/e0c9bcf2-bdc1-4603-8117-3cd047f8e0f4"},"body":"We all have learned by now fund managers protect themselves first, client second. No matter how honest a person is their is a need to protect the investor. I expect my representatives to do so, if not, I will vote for others.","stance":"nay","created_at":"2017-04-04T16:13:46.358Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/e0c9bcf2-bdc1-4603-8117-3cd047f8e0f4.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr1219-115","user_id":"GWde5bvZ","endorser_ids":[]}}

Like Causes?

Carole

Should Fewer Venture Capital Funds be Subject to SEC Regulations?