[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 176 (Monday, September 12, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56128-56130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23179]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
17 CFR Chapter II
[Release Nos. 33-9257; 34-65262; 39-2479; IA-3271; IC-29781; File No.
S7-36-11]
Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: On July 11, 2011, the President issued Executive Order 13579,
``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies,'' which, among other
things, states that independent regulatory agencies, no less than
executive agencies, should promote the goal, set forth in Executive
Order 13563 of January 18, 2011, of a regulatory system that protects
``public health, welfare, safety, and our environment while promoting
economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation.'' In
furtherance of its ongoing efforts to update regulations to reflect
market developments and changes in the regulatory landscape, and in
light of Executive Order 13579, the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission'') invites interested members of the public to submit
comments to assist the Commission in considering the development of a
plan for the retrospective review of its regulations.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or by: October 6, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Electronic Comments
Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/other.shtml); or
Send an e-mail to sec.gov">rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include
File Number S7-36-11 on the subject line; or
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Use the Federal eRulemaking Portal (http://www.regulations.gov). Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number S7-36-11. This file number
should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. To help us
process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one
method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's
Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/other.shtml). Comments are
also available for Web site viewing and printing in the Commission's
Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549, on
official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. All
comments received will be posted without change; we do not edit
personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit
only information that you wish to make available publicly.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert G. Bagnall, Attorney-Fellow,
Office of the General Counsel, 202-551-7939.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background--Current Commission Processes for Retrospective Analysis of
Existing Regulations
Because today's financial markets are dynamic and fast-moving, the
regulations affecting those markets and participants in these markets
must be reviewed over time and revised as necessary so that the
regulations continue to fulfill the Commission's mission. The
Commission has long had in place formal and informal processes for the
review of existing rules to assess the rules' continued utility and
effectiveness in light of continuing evolution of the securities
markets and changes in the securities laws and regulatory priorities.
Key examples of the ongoing processes of the Commission and staff for
review of existing rules include the following:
The Commission and staff review existing regulations
retrospectively as part of studies of broad substantive program areas.
For example, in March 2011, the Commission initiated a broad review of
offering and reporting requirements affecting issuers. The Commission
posted a regulatory review Web page seeking suggestions from the public
on ``modifying, streamlining, expanding, or repealing existing rules to
better promote economic growth, innovation, competitiveness and job
creation'' consistent with our mandates to protect investors, maintain
fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital
formation.\1\
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\1\ See http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/regulatoryreviewcomments.shtml.
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Consistent with section 610(a) of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, the Commission annually reviews each of its rules that
has become final within the past ten years. In connection with that
review, the Commission publishes a list of the rules scheduled to be
reviewed by the Commission staff during the next twelve months.\2\ The
Commission's stated policy is to review all such final rules to assess
their continued utility with a view to identifying those rules in need
of modification or even rescission.\3\
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\2\ See, e.g., Regulatory Flexibility Agenda, Securities Act
Release No. 9194 (March 3, 2011), 76 FR 40208 (July 7, 2011).
\3\ When the Commission implemented the Regulatory Flexibility
Act in 1980, it stated that it ``intend[ed] to conduct a broader
review [than that required by that Act], with a view to identifying
those rules in need of modification or even rescission.'' Securities
Act Release No. 6302 (Mar. 20, 1981), 46 FR 19251 (Mar. 30, 1981).
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The Commission and staff frequently receive and consider
suggestions to review existing rules through various types of
communications, ranging from formal petitions for rulemaking to
informal correspondence from investors, investor and industry groups,
Congress, fellow regulators, the bar and the public.
The Commission and staff frequently discuss the need to
revisit existing rules through formal and informal public engagement,
including advisory committees, roundtables, town hall meetings,
speeches, conferences and other meetings.
The Commission staff may identify existing regulations
that may merit review through its compliance inspection and examination
functions, enforcement investigations, and the receipt of requests for
exemptive relief or Commission or staff guidance.
A significant portion of the Commission's rulemaking
activity already involves the consideration of changes to existing
rules. Commission staff, in preparing rulemaking proposals, routinely
consider related existing rules and assess whether to recommend changes
to, or the elimination of, those existing rules.
Executive Order 13579
On July 11, 2011, the President signed Executive Order 13579,
``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies.'' The Executive Order
states that independent regulatory agencies, to facilitate the periodic
review of existing significant regulations, ``should consider how best
to promote retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded,
ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify,
streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been
learned. The review of existing rules ``should also consider
strengthening, complementing, or modernizing rules where necessary or
appropriate--including, if relevant, undertaking new rulemaking.'' \4\
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\4\ Memorandum for the Heads of Independent Regulatory Agencies,
M-11-28, ``Executive Order 13579, ``Regulation and Independent
Regulatory Agencies'' (July 22, 2011), http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-28.pdf.
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Executive Order 13579 also states that, within 120 days, each
independent agency ``should develop and release to the public a plan,
consistent with law and reflecting its resources and regulatory
priorities and processes, under which the agency will periodically
review its existing significant regulations to determine whether any
such regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed
so as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective or less
burdensome in achieving the regulatory objectives.''
Request for Comments
In furtherance of its ongoing efforts to update regulations to
reflect market developments and changes in the regulatory landscape,
and in light of Executive Order 13579, the Commission invites public
comments on the development of a plan for retrospective review of
existing significant regulations. The Commission welcomes general
comments on what the scope and elements of such a plan should be. In
addition, the Commission encourages commenters to respond to the
questions below:
1. What factors should the Commission consider in selecting and
prioritizing rules for review?
2. How often should the Commission review existing rules?
3. Should different rules be reviewed at different intervals? If
so, which categories of rules should be reviewed more or less
frequently, and on what basis?
4. To what extent does relevant data exist that the Commission
should consider in selecting and prioritizing rules for review and in
reviewing rules, and how should the Commission assess such data in
these processes? To what extent should these processes include
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reviewing financial economic literature or conducting empirical
studies? How can our review processes obtain and consider data and
analyses that address the benefits of our rules in preventing fraud or
other harms to our financial markets and in otherwise protecting
investors?
5. What can the Commission do to modify, streamline, or expand its
regulatory review processes?
6. How should the Commission improve public outreach and increase
public participation in the rulemaking process?
7. Is there any other information that the Commission should
consider in developing and implementing a preliminary plan for
retrospective review of regulations?
Please note that the Commission is not soliciting comment in this
notice on specific existing Commission rules to be considered for
review. Any comments regarding a currently pending Commission rule
proposal, including proposed amendments to existing rules, should be
directed to the comment file for the relevant rule proposal.\5\
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\5\ See http://www.sec.gov/rules/submitcomments.htm.
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We anticipate that any processes set forth in a Commission plan
will reflect constraints imposed by limits on resources and competing
priorities.\6\ Accordingly, the Commission encourages commenters to
consider what additional steps, if any, beyond the Commission's current
review processes could be implemented effectively and efficiently in
light of the Commission's overall resource constraints and
responsibilities.
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\6\ Executive Order 13579 states that an agency's plan should
reflect ``its resources and regulatory priorities and processes.''
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The Commission is issuing this request for information solely for
information and program-planning purposes. The Commission will consider
the comments submitted and may use them as appropriate in the
preparation of a retrospective review plan but does not anticipate
responding to each comment submitted. While responses to this request
do not bind the Commission to any further actions, all submissions will
be made publicly available on [sec.gov or regulations.gov].
By the Commission.
Dated: September 6, 2011.
Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-23179 Filed 9-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P