Keep up-to-date on the progress of important legislative issues and get a roundup of the latest regulatory moves affecting the financial advisory industry. Delivered on the first Tuesday of each month.

REGULATION: Bill to arm SEC with more investor protection power
A sweeping bill aimed at providing the Securities and Exchange Commission with broader powers to protect investors from violations of securities laws was introduced last month.  

TAXES: Offshore tax evasion targeted
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 (HR 3933 and S 1934), floated last month, would impose reporting requirements on foreign banks doing business in the United States, as well as on advisers who help American residents make investments overseas.  

REGULATION: Derivatives legislation advances
Two House committees last month voted to advance legislation that would regulate over-the-counter derivatives for the first time.  

HEDGE FUNDS: Committee gives nod to registration
Advisers of hedge funds and other certain private pools would have to register with the SEC under a bill that passed the House Financial Services Committee last week.  

INSURANCE: Information office bill revised
A revised version of a bill that would create a federal insurance office was circulated last month as a discussion draft for lawmakers.  

INDUSTRY: Effort to restrict mandatory arbitration grows
The broad-reaching Investor Protection Act (HR 3817) includes a provision that would allow the SEC to ban or restrict mandatory pre-dispute arbitration in the securities industry.  

REGULATION: Committee OK’s credit-rating-agency bill
Credit-rating agencies would face stricter requirements under a bill that was approved by the House Financial Services Committee last week.  

RETIREMENT: Call sounded for higher IRA contributions
A bill introduced last month would boost contribution limits to certain retirement accounts.  

REGULATION: Measure focusing on consumer protection advances
A bill that would establish the Consumer Financial Protection Agency cleared the House Financial Services Committee last month.  

REGULATION: Committee faces new deadline for advice bill
A new deadline was imposed on the House Ways and Means Committee for consideration of a bill that would limit who can provide investment advice to 401(k) plan participants.  

REGULATION: Senior protection bill heads to subcommittee
A bill that aims to protect older Americans from financial fraud was assigned to a subcommittee last month. HR 3550 ― now in the Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee ― would increase penalties for securities law violations when they involve older Americans.  

RETIREMENT: Break sought for the unemployed
A bill floated recently joins a handful of other proposals that would waive the 10% penalty on early distributions from retirement plans in certain situations.  

RETIREMENT: Bills call for annuity tax breaks
Tax relief for annuity investors would be provided under pending legislation on Capitol Hill.  

CORPORATE TAX: Bull’s-eye on corporate compensation write-offs
Several pending bills seek to limit corporations’ ability to write off executive compensation as a business expense.  

TAX: Measure calls for caregiver tax break
A bill floated recently would create a tax credit for caregivers of aging relatives.  

INSURANCE: Push made for national licensing group
Insurance agents could be registered by a single national licensing organization under a bill pending in the House.  

TAX: Changes to FSA rules floated
Several pending bills seek to modify the rules applying to flexible spending accounts.  

TAX: Bills seek FSA coverage of long-term care
A handful of pending bills would allow long-term-care insurance to be paid through cafeteria plans and flexible spending accounts.  

INSURANCE: Legislation targets long-term-care policies
Two bills pending in a Senate committee seek to protect consumers from potential abuses in the long-term-care insurance market.  

COLLEGE SAVINGS: Bill calls for changes to Section 529 plans
Families with Section 529 college savings plans would be able to change their investment allocations twice a year under a pending House bill.  

TAX: Companion bills seek mutual fund break
A House bill recently joined an existing Senate measure in seeking to allow mutual fund investors to defer taxation of reinvested capital gains.  

TAX: Changes sought for IRA charitable gifts
Several bills pending on Capitol Hill would extend or expand rules pertaining to tax-free gifts from IRAs to charities.  

SHAREHOLDERS: Say-on-pay awaits committee action
A House-passed bill that would give shareholders more input on executive compensation is awaiting action in the Senate Banking Committee.  

REGULATION: House-passed SEC bill idles in Senate
A proposed bill that would gives the SEC more authority to go after alleged wrongdoers in the securities industry is still waiting to be considered by the Senate Banking Committee.  

SEC: Small companies receive another SOX extension
Small public companies have been given another reprieve for complying with certain requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.  

SEC: Proposals target dark pools
Regulators last month voted to propose measures intended to increase the transparency of so-called dark pools, which are basically private trading systems operated by securities firms that allow participants to make trades without displaying their quotations to the public.  

SEC: Comments sought for credit-rating agency rules
The SEC last month posted on its website proposed rule changes intended to boost the oversight of credit-rating agencies.  

SEC: Money market interim rule adopted
Comments were due last week on an interim rule affecting money-market funds.  

SEC: Changes to uptick rule mulled
Regulators are considering an alternative approach to restricting short selling.  

SEC: Regulator consider ‘pay-to-play' rule
The SEC has proposed a rule proposal intended to curtail so-called pay-to-play practices.  

SEC: Muni disclosure changes considered
Regulators are considering a proposal that would expand issuer disclosure in the municipal-securities market.  

SEC: Strategic plan unveiled, input sought
The SEC last month published for public comment its draft strategic plan, which outlines the agency's strategic goals for fiscal years 2010 through 2015.  

REGULATORS: SEC, CFTC focus on bring regs into line
The SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month issued a joint report that identifies differing regulatory structures between the agencies and recommends actions to address them.  

SAVINGS: Treasury suggests changes to 529 plans
The Treasury Department included recommended changes to Section 529 college savings plans in a report it issued last month.  

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