Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., and Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., have introduced long-awaited bipartisan legislation requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission to write a rule allowing financial firms to deliver their documents in digital format.
The bill, H.R. 9570, the Improving Disclosures to Investors Act, was introduced late Thursday.
Fidelity said in a statement to ThinkAdvisor on Friday that the Boston-based firm "has long advocated for digital-first public policies, particularly the need for the Securities and Exchange Commission to transition the default method for sending regulatory documents from paper to digital."
Fidelity commends Huizenga and Auchincloss' "legislative proposal that acknowledges there is a more secure and efficient way to communicate with our customers, while ensuring they understand that paper delivery of their documents is always an option. We look forward to working with Congress to advance this innovative bill into law."
A Fidelity spokesperson explained that before October of this year firms "used to be able to send open-ended mutual fund docs through notice and access mechanisms online, but [the SEC's] amendment to that 30e3 rule rolled back that function. Currently, all regulatory required SEC docs are paper default. This bill would apply to all outbound SEC documents."
Eric Pan, president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute in Washington, added in another statement that the bill seeks to modernize the SEC's regulatory framework and asks the agency to engage in rulemaking that permits "financial firms to provide disclosures to investors through electronic means."
