FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN
Monday, February 28, 2000 202-224-0894

GRAMM, GRAMS, SCHUMER INTRODUCE LEGISLATION
TO REDUCE SECURITIES FEES, RAISE SEC PAY

Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, today introduced legislation that will reduce the fees paid by corporations for securities registration and transactions, lowering the costs to investors. And in order to maintain the highest level of investor protection, the bill will make it possible for the Securities and Exchange Commission to improve the retention of professional employees by bringing their pay in line with that of employees of other financial regulatory agencies.

Sen. Rod Grams, chairman of the Banking Committee's securities subcommittee, and Sen. Charles Schumer, a leading member of the securities subcommittee, are original co-sponsors of S. 2107, which will be known as the Competitive Market Supervision Act.

By reducing the fees that companies pay to the SEC for securities registration and transactions, the legislation will save investors $7.9 billion over five years and $14.4 billion over 10 years.

"Today these fees are generating about five times what it takes to run the SEC," Gramm said. "Securities fees should not be a general revenue source."

The legislation provides for congressional appropriators to set the rates for registration, transaction and merger/tender fees each year within specific caps on the amounts to be collected. To ensure adequate funds for supervision, the bill guarantees that the SEC will receive 100 percent of its funding. If collections fall below 100 percent of the SEC budget, temporary increases can be enacted. If collections exceed the cap on fees by more than 5 percent, temporary fee reductions will set in.

The legislation also permits the SEC to set employee pay at levels comparable to those paid by other financial regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

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Click here for text of S. 2107