H.R. 4617 would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study and report to the Congress on the practice of payment for order flow (payments received by a stock brokerage for directing orders to another firm), including conflicts that can arise from such arrangements. The bill would require the SEC to revise its rules in keeping with the study’s results. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4617 would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO has not estimated the discretionary costs of implementing the bill. The bill would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act that would not exceed the annual threshold of $184 million in 2022 (adjusted annually for inflation). The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates.
