FINDINGS.

SEC. 502. FINDINGS. The Congress finds the following: (1) The maintenance of an honest and healthy primary and secondary market for securities offerings is essential to enhancing long-term capital formation and economic growth and providing legitimate investment opportunities for individuals and institutions. (2) Protecting investors in new securities is a critical component in the maintenance of an honest and healthy market for such securities. (3) Protecting issuers of new securities and promoting the capital formation process on behalf of small companies are fundamental concerns in maintaining a strong economy and viable trading markets. (4) Unscrupulous market practices and market participants have pervaded the “penny stock” market with an overwhelming amount of fraud and abuse. (5) Although the Securities and Exchange Commission, State securities regulators, and securities self-regulators have made efforts to curb these abusive and harmful practices, the penny stock market still lacks an adequate and sufficient regulatory structure, particularly in comparison to the structure for overseeing trading in National Market System securities. (6) Investors in the penny stock market suffer from a serious lack of adequate information concerning price and volume of penny stock transactions, the nature of this market, and the specific securities in which they are investing. (7) Current practices do not adequately regulate the role of “promoters” and “consultants” in the penny stock market, and many professionals who have been banned from the securities markets have ended up in promoter and consultant roles, contributing substantially to fraudulent and abusive schemes. (8) The present regulatory environment has permitted the ascendancy of the use of particular market practices, such as “reverse mergers” with shell corporations and “blank check” offerings, which are used to facilitate manipulation schemes and harm investors. 104 STAT. 952 (9) In light of the substantial and continuing problems in the penny stock markets, additional legislative measures are necessary and appropriate.