,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cegh  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,october #aa1  
#bjah,mr4 ,rounds introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,banking1
 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs  ,a      
,,bill  ,to require the ,securities and 
,exchange ,commission to carry out a    
study to evaluate the issues affecting  
the provision of1 and reliance upon1    
investment research into small issuers4 
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,improving ,investment ,research
 for ,small and ,emerging ,issuers ,act4
  #b4 ,research study  7a7 ,study       
required ,the ,securities and ,exchange 
,commission shall conduct a study to    
evaluate the issues affecting the       
provision of1 and reliance upon1        
investment research into small issuers  
7referred to in this section as covered 
research71 including emerging growth    
companies and companies considering     
initial public offerings4  7b7 ,contents

 of study ,the study required under     
subsection 7a7 shall consider-- 7#a7    
factors relating to the demand for      
covered research by institutional and   
retail investors2  7#b7 the availability
 of covered research1 including-- 7,a7  
the number and types of firms that      
provide covered research2  7,b7 the     
volume of covered research over time2   
and  7,c7 competition in the research   
market2  7#c7 conflicts of interest     
relating to the production and          
distribution of investment research2    
7#d7 the costs of covered research2     
7#e7 the impacts of different payment   
mechanisms for covered research1        
including whether that research is paid 
for by--  7,a7 hard-dollar payments from
 research clients2  7,b7 payments       
directed from the commission income of a
 client1 including payments commonly    
referred to as soft dollars2 or  7,c7   
payments from the issuer that is the    
subject of covered research2  7#f7 any  
unique challenges faced by              

minority-owned1 women-owned1 and        
veteran-owned small issuers in obtaining
 research coverage2 and  7#g7 the impact
 on the availability of research        
coverage for small issuers due to-- 7,a7
 investment adviser concentration and   
consolidation1 including any potential  
impacts of the size of a fund on the    
demand for investment research of small 
issuers2  7,b7 broker and dealer        
concentration and consolidation1        
including any relationships between the 
size of a firm and allocation of        
resources for investment research into  
small issuers2  7,c7 rules of the       
,securities and ,exchange ,commission2  
7,d7 rules of registered national       
securities associations2  7,e7 ,state   
and ,federal liability concerns2  7,f7  
the settlement agreements referenced in 
,securities and ,exchange ,commission   
,litigation ,release ,no4 #ahdch        
7relating to the ,global ,research      
,analyst ,settlement2 issued ,october   
#ca1 #bjjc72 and  7,g7 ,directive       

#bjad_/fe_/;,,eu of the ,european       
,parliament and of the ,council of #ae  
,may #bjad 7relating to markets in      
financial instruments and amending      
,directive #bjjb_/ib_/;,,ec and         
,directive #bjaa_/fa_/;,,eu71 as        
implemented by the member states of the 
,european ,union4  7c7 ,report required 
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of enactment of this ,act1 the         
,securities and ,exchange ,commission   
shall submit to ,congress a report that 
includes--  7#a7 the results of the     
study required under subsection 7a72 and
  7#b7 recommendations to increase the  
demand for1 volume of1 and quality of   
investment research into small issuers1 
including emerging growth companies and 
companies considering initial public    
offerings4