National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Investment Advisers Supervision Coordination Act Title II: Facilitating Investment In Mutual Funds Title III: Reducing the Cost of Saving and Investment Securities Investment Promotion Act of 1996 - Title I: Investment Advisers Supervision Coordination Act - Investment Advisers Supervision Coordination Act - Authorizes appropriations to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for FY 1997 and 1998 to enforce the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. (Sec. 103) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to exempt from SEC registration requirements investment advisers subject to a State securities regulator, unless they: (1) manage at least $25 million in assets; and (2) serve as advisers to certain federally registered investment companies, or certain business development companies. Exempts from State regulation advisers subject to SEC regulation, or excepted from the SEC definition of investment adviser. Permits States, in such cases, to: (1) require the filing of documents for notice purposes; and (2) investigate fraud or deceit and bring enforcement actions. (Sec. 104) Prohibits the enforcement of any State law or regulation that sets recordkeeping or capital and bond requirements in addition to those of the State in which an adviser maintains its principal place of business and is in compliance with applicable requirements. (Sec. 105) Directs the SEC to restrict the activities of investment advisers who are convicted felons, regardless of the nature of the felony or if the court is foreign, or to suspend or revoke their registration. (Sec. 106) Retains State authority to collect filing, registration, or licensing fees. Title II: Facilitating Investment in Mutual Funds - Investment Company Amendments Act of 1996 - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to exempt from certain acquisition proscriptions the securities of a registered open-end investment company or a registered unit investment trust acquired by another such company or trust belonging to the same group of investment companies if specified circumstances apply. (Sec. 203) Revises requirements for the amendment of registration statements under the Securities Act of 1933 relating to securities issued by face-amount certificate companies, open-end management companies or unit investment trusts. Repeals provisions for an increase in the number of securities specified in a registration, and deems any such registration to be for an indefinite number of securities. Prescribes formulae for the determination of registration fees, including interest due on late payments. (Sec. 204) Directs the SEC to permit the use of a prospectus containing substantive information not included in the prospectus specified in the Securities Act, but which shall be deemed permitted under such Act. (Sec. 205) Prescribes guidelines for the sale of variable insurance contracts. (Sec. 206) Revises the strictures on deceptive or misleading investment company names to declare unlawful the adoption of a name which the SEC finds is materially deceptive or misleading (the current standard is "deceptive or misleading"). Repeals the SEC's authority to bring an action in a U.S. district court for injunctive relief against a violator of such prohibition. (Sec. 207) Modifies the guidelines that exempt investment companies from the Act. Instructs the SEC to prescribe rules: (1) implementing such modified guidelines; and (2) permitting ownership by knowledgeable employees of an issuer of the securities of that issuer without loss of the issuer's statutory exception from treatment as an investment company. (Sec. 208) Authorizes the SEC to provide exemptions from certain investment advisory performance fee contract restrictions to the extent that the exemption relates to a contract with any person that the SEC determines does not need the statutory protections. (Sec. 209) Repeals the requirement that a registered investment company file quarterly or semi-annual reports with the SEC. Requires the SEC to take specified steps to avoid unnecessary reporting and minimize the compliance burdens upon registered investment companies and their affiliated persons when exercising its authority to require the filing of information on a basis more frequently than semi-annually, and in the maintenance and preservation of requisite records. (Sec. 210) Revises the guidelines for the maintenance and preservation of investment company records for the SEC. Title III: Reducing the Cost of Saving and Investment - Exempts from the purview of the Investment Company Act of 1940 specified companies not engaged in the business of issuing redeemable securities, but whose financial or managerial assistance operations are subject to State regulation, if their activities are limited to the promotion of economic, business, or industrial development through the provision of such assistance to certain enterprises. (Sec. 302) Increases from $100,000 to $10 million the maximum size of closed-end investment companies exempt from the purview of the Act. (Sec. 303) Redefines: (1) "eligible portfolio company" to include maximum total assets of $4 million, and maximum capital and surplus of $2 million; and (2) "business development company" to provide that it need not make available significant managerial assistance to specified companies. (Sec. 305) Revises guidelines governing business development companies, including: (1) acquisitions of assets; (2) capital structure; and (3) filing of written statements. (Sec. 308) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt from State jurisdiction: (1) certain federally registered securities; and (2) securities transactions with qualified purchasers. Retains State authority to collect filing or registration fees with respect to securities or securities transactions. (Sec. 309) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to grant the SEC general exemptive authority regarding registration requirements. Prohibits the SEC from exempting any person, security, or transaction, or any class or classes of them, from government securities registration requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and associated regulations. (Sec. 310) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1997 and 1998 to implement the Economic Analysis Program, including funding for the Office of Economic Analysis of the SEC. Directs the Chief Economist of the SEC to prepare a report on each proposed SEC regulation, which must be published in the Federal Register before it may become effective. Prescribes report contents. (Sec. 311) Directs the SEC to report to the Congress on its plan for promoting competition and innovation of the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) System through privatization. (Sec. 312) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to mandate that the SEC and certain self-regulatory organizations ("examining authorities") coordinate their examination functions according to prescribed guidelines in order to eliminate duplication in the broker and dealer examination process. (Sec. 313) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 to exclude from the definition of securities sales offer any offshore press conferences and public meetings, or press materials disseminated offshore. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to preclude SEC jurisdiction over certain persons who grant U.S. journalists access to meetings and press materials in connection with offshore tender offers affecting securities of a foreign issuer. (Sec. 314) Requires the SEC to amend a specified registration form to allow its use for primary offerings by certain registrants whose nonaffiliates have an adequate aggregate market value. (Sec. 315) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to exempt certain church employee pension plans from its definition of investment company (thus removing such plans from its purview). Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to mandate disclosure to church plan participants that: (1) such plans are not subject to Federal or State regulatory oversight; and (2) plan participants and beneficiaries will therefore not be afforded the protections concomitant with such oversight. (Sec. 316) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the SEC should present a status report to the Congress regarding: (1) the development of international accounting standards; and (2) the outlook for completion of such standards for offerings and listings by foreign corporations in U.S. markets. (Sec. 317) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt from State licensing requirements associated persons of a broker or a dealer with respect to certain de minimis transactions. (Sec. 318) Directs the SEC to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the impact of technological advances and on-line information systems upon securities markets operations; (2) shareholder proposals and access to proxy statements; and (3) the impact of "preferencing" upon investors and the national market system.