§7246 Fair Funds for Investors

Summary

When the Commission gets a civil penalty in a court case or administrative case under the securities laws, or a person agrees to pay a civil penalty in a settlement, that money must, if the Commission asks or orders it, be added to a disgorgement fund or another fund set up to help the victims of the violation. The Commission can also accept gifts, bequests, and property for those funds. Money from gifts and from selling donated property must be put into the fund and used to help victims. The Commission must study enforcement actions from the five years before July 30, 2002 that included penalties or disgorgements and must look at other ways to give victims restitution more efficiently, including ways to improve collection of penalties and disgorgements. Within 180 days after July 30, 2002, the Commission must report its findings to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, use the findings to change rules if needed, and include any recommended regulatory or legislative actions.