STREAMLINING OF FILING PROCEDURES FOR SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATIONS.

SEC. 916. STREAMLINING OF FILING PROCEDURES FOR SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATIONS.(a) Filing Procedures.—Section 19(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) (including the undesignated matter immediately following subparagraph (B)) and inserting the following:“(2) Approval process.—“(A) Approval process established.—“(i) In general.—Except as provided in clause (ii), not later than 45 days after the date of publication of a proposed rule change under paragraph (1), the Commission shall—“(I) by order, approve or disapprove the proposed rule change; or“(II) institute proceedings under subparagraph (B) to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved.“(ii) Extension of time period.—The Commission may extend the period established under clause (i) by not more than an additional 45 days, if—“(I) the Commission determines that a longer period is appropriate and publishes the reasons for such determination; or“(II) the self-regulatory organization that filed the proposed rule change consents to the longer period.“(B) Proceedings.—“(i) Notice and hearing.—If the Commission does not approve or disapprove a proposed rule change under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall provide to the self-regulatory organization that filed the proposed rule change—“(I) notice of the grounds for disapproval under consideration; and“(II) opportunity for hearing, to be concluded not later than 180 days after the date of publication of notice of the filing of the proposed rule change.“(ii) Order of approval or disapproval.—“(I) In general.—Except as provided in subclause (II), not later than 180 days after the date of publication under paragraph (1), the Commission shall issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change.“(II) Extension of time period.—The Commission may extend the period for issuance under clause (I) by not more than 60 days, if—“(aa) the Commission determines that a longer period is appropriate and publishes the reasons for such determination; or“(bb) the self-regulatory organization that filed the proposed rule change consents to the longer period.“(C) Standards for approval and disapproval.—“(i) Approval.—The Commission shall approve a proposed rule change of a self-regulatory organization if it finds that such proposed rule change is consistent 124 STAT. 1834 with the requirements of this title and the rules and regulations issued under this title that are applicable to such organization.“(ii) Disapproval.—The Commission shall disapprove a proposed rule change of a self-regulatory organization if it does not make a finding described in clause (i).“(iii) Time for approval.—The Commission may not approve a proposed rule change earlier than 30 days after the date of publication under paragraph (1), unless the Commission finds good cause for so doing and publishes the reason for the finding.“(D) Result of failure to institute or conclude proceedings.—A proposed rule change shall be deemed to have been approved by the Commission, if—“(i) the Commission does not approve or disapprove the proposed rule change or begin proceedings under subparagraph (B) within the period described in subparagraph (A); or“(ii) the Commission does not issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change under subparagraph (B) within the period described in subparagraph (B)(ii).“(E) Publication date based on federal register publishing.—For purposes of this paragraph, if, after filing a proposed rule change with the Commission pursuant to paragraph (1), a self-regulatory organization publishes a notice of the filing of such proposed rule change, together with the substantive terms of such proposed rule change, on a publicly accessible website, the Commission shall thereafter send the notice to the Federal Register for publication thereof under paragraph (1) within 15 days of the date on which such website publication is made. If the Commission fails to send the notice for publication thereof within such 15 day period, then the date of publication shall be deemed to be the date on which such website publication was made.“(F) Rulemaking.—“(i) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Investor Protection and Securities Reform Act of 2010, after consultation with other regulatory agencies, the Commission shall promulgate rules setting forth the procedural requirements of the proceedings required under this paragraph.“(ii) Notice and comment not required.—The rules promulgated by the Commission under clause (i) are not required to include republication of proposed rule changes or solicitation of public comment.”.(b) Clarification of Filing Date.—(1) Rule of construction.—Section 19(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:“(10) Rule of construction relating to filing date of proposed rule changes.—“(A) In general.—For purposes of this subsection, the date of filing of a proposed rule change shall be deemed 124 STAT. 1835 to be the date on which the Commission receives the proposed rule change.“(B) Exception.—A proposed rule change has not been received by the Commission for purposes of subparagraph (A) if, not later than 7 business days after the date of receipt by the Commission, the Commission notifies the self-regulatory organization that such proposed rule change does not comply with the rules of the Commission relating to the required form of a proposed rule change, except that if the Commission determines that the proposed rule change is unusually lengthy and is complex or raises novel regulatory issues, the Commission shall inform the self-regulatory organization of such determination not later than 7 business days after the date of receipt by the Commission and, for the purposes of subparagraph (A), a proposed rule change has not been received by the Commission, if, not later than 21 days after the date of receipt by the Commission, the Commission notifies the self-regulatory organization that such proposed rule change does not comply with the rules of the Commission relating to the required form of a proposed rule change.”.(2) Publication.—Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1)) is amended by striking “upon” and inserting “as soon as practicable after the date of”.(c) Effective Date of Proposed Rules.—Section 19(b)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)) is amended—(1) in subparagraph (A)—(A) by striking “may take effect” and inserting “shall take effect”; and(B) by inserting “on any person, whether or not the person is a member of the self-regulatory organization” after “charge imposed by the self-regulatory organization”; and(2) in subparagraph (C)—(A) by amending the second sentence to read as follows: “At any time within the 60-day period beginning on the date of filing of such a proposed rule change in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1), the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend the change in the rules of the self-regulatory organization made thereby, if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of this title.”;(B) by inserting after the second sentence the following: “If the Commission takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings under paragraph (2)(B) to determine whether the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.”; and(C) in the third sentence, by striking “the preceding sentence” and inserting “this subparagraph”.(d) Conforming Change.—Section 19(b)(4)(D) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(4)(D)) is amended to read as follows:124 STAT. 1836 “(D)(i) The Commission shall order the temporary suspension of any change in the rules of a clearing agency made by a proposed rule change that has taken effect under paragraph (3), if the appropriate regulatory agency for the clearing agency notifies the Commission not later than 30 days after the date on which the proposed rule change was filed of—“(I) the determination by the appropriate regulatory agency that the rules of such clearing agency, as so changed, may be inconsistent with the safeguarding of securities or funds in the custody or control of such clearing agency or for which it is responsible; and“(II) the reasons for the determination described in subclause (I).“(ii) If the Commission takes action under clause (i), the Commission shall institute proceedings under paragraph (2)(B) to determine if the proposed rule change should be approved or disapproved.”.