15 U.S.C. § 77uuu — Special powers of the Commission

submitted 93 years ago by ch. 38 to r/title-15-COMMERCE-AND-TRADE · 756 words · no verdicts yet

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SEC officers may put witnesses under oath, subpoena them, and demand records to investigate trust indenture matters. Banking regulators may share confidential reports about trustees with the SEC, but the SEC usually can't share them further. Investigating a possible trustee is limited to checking whether that trustee is eligible to serve.

(a) Investigatory powers. For any investigation or proceeding the SEC believes is necessary to enforce this subchapter, an SEC member or a designated officer can put witnesses under oath, subpoena them, compel their attendance, gather evidence, and demand books, papers, and records relevant to the inquiry — from anywhere in the U.S. or its territories. The SEC also has the investigation, hearing, and enforcement powers given in sections 77t and 77v(b) and (c). (b) Reports from other agencies. The Treasury Department, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Banks, and the FDIC may share with the SEC any reports, records, or information they have about indenture trustees or prospective trustees, and may let their examiners inspect such trustees for the SEC's use. Before an indenture can be qualified, every trustee or prospective trustee must agree that examination reports from federal, state, territorial, or district authorities may be given to the SEC on request. These reports, records, and any correspondence between a trustee and its examining authority are confidential: the SEC and its people can't share them with anyone outside the SEC — except the SEC may privately share this information with the Attorney General, if the SEC decides it's needed for the Attorney General's duties under this subchapter. (c) Limits on investigating a prospective trustee. Any inquiry into a prospective trustee is limited to three things: (1) deciding whether that trustee is eligible to serve under section 77jjj(b); (2) requiring the registration statement or application to include the eligibility information required by section 77jjj(a)(1); and (3) requiring the registration statement to include the trustee's most recent published report of financial condition under section 77jjj(a)(2) — or, if the indenture lacks the combined-capital-and-surplus provision that section allows, deciding whether the trustee is eligible under section 77jjj(a)(2) instead. (d) Staff and property. The SEC has the same authority given in section 78d(b) to hire and pay the employees it needs for this subchapter, and to lease and allocate the real property it needs.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Investigatory powers

For the purpose of any investigation or any other proceeding which, in the opinion of the Commission, is necessary and proper for the enforcement of this subchapter, any member of the Commission, or any officer thereof designated by it, is empowered to administer oaths and affirmations, subpena witnesses, compel their attendance, take evidence, and require the production of any books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, or other records which the Commission deems relevant or material to the inquiry. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of any such books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, or other records may be required from any place in the United States or in any Territory at any designated place of investigation or hearing. In addition, the Commission shall have the powers with respect to investigations and hearings, and with respect to the enforcement of, and offenses and violations under, this subchapter and rules and regulations and orders prescribed under the authority thereof, provided in sections 77t and 77v(b), (c) of this title.

(b) Availability of reports from other offices; restrictions

The Treasury Department, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Banks, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are authorized, under such conditions as they may prescribe, to make available to the Commission such reports, records, or other information as they may have available with respect to trustees or prospective trustees under indentures qualified or to be qualified under this subchapter, and to make through their examiners or other employees for the use of the Commission, examinations of such trustees or prospective trustees. Every such trustee or prospective trustee shall, as a condition precedent to qualification of such indenture, consent that reports of examinations by Federal, State, Territorial, or District authorities may be furnished by such authorities to the Commission upon request therefor.

Notwithstanding any provision of this subchapter, no report, record, or other information made available to the Commission under this subsection, no report of an examination made under this subsection for the use of the Commission, no report of an examination made of any trustee or prospective trustee by any Federal, State, Territorial, or District authority having jurisdiction to examine or supervise such trustee, no report made by any such trustee or prospective trustee to any such authority, and no correspondence between any such authority and any such trustee or prospective trustee, shall be divulged or made known or available by the Commission or any member, officer, agent, or employee thereof, to any person other than a member, officer, agent, or employee of the Commission: Provided, That the Commission may make available to the Attorney General of the United States, in confidence, any information obtained from such records, reports of examination, other reports, or correspondence, and deemed necessary by the Commission, or requested by him, for the purpose of enabling him to perform his duties under this subchapter.

Any investigation of a prospective trustee, or any proceeding or requirement for the purpose of obtaining information regarding a prospective trustee, under any provision of this subchapter, shall be limited—

(1)

to determining whether such prospective trustee is qualified to act as trustee under the provisions of subsection (b) of section 77jjj of this title;

(2)

to requiring the inclusion in the registration statement or application of information with respect to the eligibility of such prospective trustee under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section 77jjj of this title; and

(3)

to requiring the inclusion in the registration statement or application of the most recent published report of condition of such prospective trustee, as described in paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of section 77jjj of this title, or, if the indenture does not contain the provision with respect to combined capital and surplus authorized by the last sentence of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of section 77jjj of this title, to determining whether such prospective trustee is eligible to act as such under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of section 77jjj of this title.

(d) Appointment and compensation of employees; lease and allocation of real property

The provisions section 78d(b) of this title shall be applicable with respect to the power of the Commission—

(1)

to appoint and fix the compensation of such employees as may be necessary for carrying out its functions under this subchapter, and

(2)

to lease and allocate such real property as may be necessary for carrying out its functions under this subchapter.

Source credit: (May 27, 1933, ch. 38, title III, § 321, as added Aug. 3, 1939, ch. 411, 53 Stat. 1174; amended Pub. L. 101–550, title I, § 104(b), Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2714.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1933Enacted · Act of May 27, 1933, ch. 38 · 53 Stat. 1174
1990Amended · Pub. L. 101-550 · 104 Stat. 2714

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 38 on 1933-05-27.

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