Current law provides a number of exemptions from the requirement that securities be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to their sale. Central to those exemptions is the accredited investor, a person with sufficient financial sophistication and ability to sustain the risk of loss so that the protections from the registration process are unnecessary. Accredited investors may participate in investment opportunities not available to non-accredited investors, such as purchasing securities that are exempt from registration.
H.R. 1585 would broaden the definition of an accredited investor to include licensed brokers or investment advisors and individuals with professional knowledge related to a particular investment, as verified by certain regulatory authorities.
Based on information from the SEC, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1585 would cost less than $500,000 for rulemaking activities related to the change in the definition of an accredited investor. Moreover, the SEC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset its annual appropriation; therefore, CBO estimates that the net effect on discretionary spending would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.
Enacting H.R. 1585 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1585 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 1585 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
If the SEC increases fees to offset the costs associated with implementing the bill, H.R. 1585 would increase the cost of an existing mandate on private entities required to pay those assessments. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small and would fall well below the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($156 million in 2017, adjusted annually for inflation).