Press Releases

Today, the House passed H.R. 910, the Fair Access to Investment Research Act, by a vote of 405-2. H.R. 910 was introduced by Congressman French Hill (AR-02) and Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) in February. The bill would address anomalies in securities laws and regulations that discourage broker-dealers from publishing research on exchange traded funds (ETFs) by directing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide a safe harbor for research reports that cover ETFs.

Over the past three decades, ETFs have grown from about 100 funds with $100 billion in assets to over 1,500 funds with $2.1 trillion in assets. However, despite their growth in popularity, due to the anomalies in securities laws, most broker-dealers do not publish research on ETFs. 

Congressman Hill introduced the same bill in the previous Congress, and it passed the House in June 2016 by a vote of 411-6. Following passage of the bill, Congressman Hill and Congressman Foster released the below statements:

“ETFs have seen explosive growth over the past three decades, but there is a lack of available research that could greatly benefit consumers due to the current securities laws. This bill provides a simple and common sense fix to those laws by removing this unnecessary burden that prevents investor access to information. I appreciate the leadership and support of Congressman Foster, and I look forward to our continued partnership in working with the Senate to get this important bill signed into law.” – Congressman French Hill

“Our economy is better off when investors have access to the information they need to make sound financial decisions. I am proud to work with Congressman Hill on this bipartisan piece of legislation to help investors make good decisions that help Americans save for retirement more securely.” – Congressman Bill Foster

Senator Dean Heller (NV) and Senator Gary Peters (MI) introduced S. 327, a companion bill to H.R. 910 in the Senate. S. 327 passed the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in March and is pending further action in the full Senate.

Watch Hill’s Floor Speech Prior to Passage of H.R. 910