Business Owners Protection Act of 2025
This bill, titled the Business Owners Protection Act of 2025, would terminate certain SEC authorities that were created under the Dodd-Frank Act but have not been used. Specifically, any SEC authority that gives the Commission discretion to require private entities, and for which the SEC has not issued a notice of proposed rulemaking or a guidance document by January 1, 2025, would be terminated upon enactment. The bill also requires the SEC to identify and publicly list every such terminated authority within 180 days after enactment. The effect is to narrow or eliminate discretionary powers stemming from Dodd-Frank that have not been actively pursued through rulemaking or guidance. In short, if the SEC created a potential rule or requirement for private companies under Dodd-Frank but never moved forward with formal rulemaking or guidance, that authority would be removed, reducing potential future regulation in this area. The measure also adds a transparent reporting obligation to document which authorities were terminated.
Key Points
- 1Scope: Applies to SEC authorities created under the Dodd-Frank Act that allow discretionary decisions to impose requirements on private entities, where no NPRM or guidance was issued before Jan 1, 2025.
- 2Termination: Such unused authorities are terminated automatically on enactment of this subsection.
- 3Inclusions: The term “authorities” includes those established for the SEC through amendments made by Dodd-Frank to the Securities Exchange Act.
- 4Disclosure requirement: The SEC must, within 180 days after enactment, provide Congress a list and publicly publish each authority that was terminated under this subsection.
- 5Rulemaking/guidance condition: The termination applies only to authorities that had not begun formal rulemaking (NPRM under the Administrative Procedure Act) or issued guidance prior to the cutoff date.