New securities bill could streamline regulations for investment advisers.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that would modernize a number of existing securities laws by eliminating many duplicative federal and state registration regulations. The Securities Investment Promotion Act of 1996 (S 1815), introduced by Senators Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.), Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), Richard H. Bryan (D-Nev.) and Carol Mosely-Braun (D.-Ill.), would divide the responsibilities between the states and the Securities and Exchange Commission for supervising as many as 25,000 investment advisers.

The bill would exempt from registering with the SEC an investment adviser who manages less than $25 million in assets and who does not advise a mutual fund if the adviser is required to register with the state where he or she maintains the business. It would exempt other advisers from SEC registration if the SEC determined that registration would be unfair or a burden, and it would exempt investment advisers registered with the SEC from state investment adviser regulation; however, states may require registered investment advisers to file notices with the state and pay appropriate fees.

"This provision is good news for the increasing number of CPAs who offer investment advisory and financial planning services," said Andrea Andrews of Price Waterhouse in Washington, D.C. "It could relieve them of the burden of dual regulation and would solve the problems of applying many of the ambiguous registration requirements under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940." Andrews said the Senate bill was an improvement on past proposals that explicitly extended federal registration requirements to financial planners and permitted private rights of action against registrants. "Two things CPAs do not need are more regulation and more liability exposure."

Developing international standards Language in the bill strongly urges the SEC to make it easier for foreign corporations to list their stocks on U.S. exchanges. The bill, which asks the SEC to reinforce its efforts in developing generally accepted international accounting standards, requires the SEC to report its progress to Congress within one year of the bill's enactment. "The effort to develop international accounting standards has really picked up speed," said Andrews. "Competition for investment capital has increased exponentially, with the United States as the preeminent supplier of that capital."

A similar bill in the House, the Securities Act Amendments of 1996 (HR 3005), does not contain the Senate provisions on investment advisers and international standards. However, both bills include other proposals to streamline securities regulation and eliminate duplicative registration requirements.

SEC Expands Services for Small Enterprises

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the appointment of William E. Toomey as special ombudsman and agency spokesman for the concerns of small businesses. Toomey, who has served the SEC for over 30 years, will take comments from smaller companies concerning any SEC proposal, rule or regulation. Toomey can be reached by calling [phone].

The SEC created a small business headquarters unit that specializes in filings and other needs of small companies. The commission also has assigned small business liaisons in each of the SEC's regional offices. A special package of SEC information for small businesses is available on the SEC Web site at http://www.sec.gov.