The House Financial Services Committee passed a series of bills late Wednesday regarding pre-dispute mandatory arbitration, protecting seniors and reining in fees paid to sponsors of special-purpose acquisition companies.
The Investor Choice Act, H.R. 2620, which was introduced by Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., passed by a 27-23 vote and prohibits broker-dealers and investment advisors from including pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration clauses in their customer agreements.
House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Wednesday during the markup that the Investor Choice Act corrects "long-standing and deeply unfair practices of forcing customers to resolve their claims through arbitration instead of as part of a class action."
The Financial Services Committee, she said, "will continue to focus on protecting retail investors as we recover from the pandemic."
Also approved by the committee Wednesday was the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act, H.R. 5914, which would move responsibility for administering the Senior Investor Protection Grant Program established by Section 989A of the Dodd-Frank Act from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Introduced by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., the bill, according to Waters, creates "a grant program within the Securities and Exchange Commission to bolster the ability of state securities watchdogs to protect seniors and their retirement savings."
