Last week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., brought back five bills to “hold Communist China accountable and better protect American families and investors.”
Scott’s office insisted the bill “will hold Communist China accountable by closing investment sanctions loopholes, protecting investors from dubious Chinese companies, imposing new sanctions, demanding additional transparency and accountability from publicly-traded companies, and identifying vulnerabilities and requiring disclosures so that transactions are transparent and safe for Americans.”
“Given the enormous challenges faced today in our banking system, it is even more imperative that we protect consumers from known bad actors, like the Communist Chinese Party, who pose a large threat to the U.S. economy and whose top targets are our investors, markets, supply chains and jobs. These five bills will take the necessary steps to secure our markets, protect consumers, demand transparency and accountability, and ensure investors are protected. I continue to strongly advocate for all American investors and business leaders to cut ties with Communist China, and force transparency to expose both financial and national security risks is absolutely necessary to achieve this. Chinese companies largely operate under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, and if they continue to act in bad faith, we cannot as a country continue to invest and provide capital to their regime. I am again fighting to pass this legislation because these bills are critical, not only for national security, but personal and financial security for families and consumers across the country, and I urge my colleagues to support their passage,” Scott said about the bills.
Scott is working with U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Mary., on the “Trading and Investing with Clear Knowledge & Expectations about Risk (TICKER) Act.” The bill “aims to protect American investors from risky investments in Variable Interest Entities (VIE), which was one of the key recommendations of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in their latest report to Congress” and “would help ensure investors clearly see the risks associated with VIE investments by requiring a special notation on those companies’ exchange ticker symbols.” The bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. So far, there is no companion measure in the U.S. House.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, is co-sponsoring the “Protecting American Capital Act” which Scott introduced last week.
“The Chinese Communist Party continues to benefit from American capital entering their markets while providing little to no financial data to validate their domestic economic claims. This is both an economic gamble as well as a serious national security risk for the United States. This bill would require the U.S. Department of the Treasury to analyze and submit an annual report to congress on the United States’ financial exposure among certain sectors of the Chinese economy that pose significant risk,” Scott’s office noted.
The bill was sent to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. So far, there is no House counterpart.
Scott is working with U.S. Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., on the “Sanction Transactions Originating from Pernicious Chinese Companies and Policies (STOP CCP) Act.”
“Many Chinese companies on the Non-Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) Chinese Military-Industrial Complex (NS-CMIC) list avoid sanctions by creating a subsidiary company as a loophole to receive investments. They also avoid sanctions by exploiting areas in the U.S. markets where the NS-CMIC list has no jurisdiction. This bill would expand the jurisdiction of existing U.S. investment restrictions targeting Chinese entities placed on the NS-CMIC Companies list as well as establish that Chinese companies sanctioned under one U.S. authority be automatically sanctioned under all other authorities,” Scott’s office noted.
The bill was sent to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. So far, there is no House counterpart.
Scott is working with Braun and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on the “Transaction and Sourcing Knowledge (TASK) Act.”
“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has done very little to crack down on China’s abuses within the U.S. public markets, especially when it comes to the atrocities regarding forced labor and human rights violations within the Peoples republic of China (PRC). This bill would direct the SEC to report on specific sourcing and transaction activities within the forced labor region of the Xinjiang province. Additionally, this bill would require an annual report disclosing if there is a Chinese Communist Party committee member apart of the companies’ operation and summarize the actions and corporate decisions in which such committees may have participated,” Scott’s office noted.
The bill was sent to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. So far, there is no House counterpart.
Scott brought back the “Secure America’s Financial Exchanges (SAFE) Act” which Braun and U.S. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and JD Vance, R-Ohio, are co-sponsoring.
“Chinese companies continue to list Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on America’s financial exchanges. Many of these companies have alarming ties to the Chinese Communist Party, yet this information is not required to be disclosed to investors or the SEC when seeking to list on American financial exchanges. This bill would require the SEC to implement specific disclosure requirements for Chinese-based companies seeking access into U.S.-based exchanges through Initial Public Offering (IPOs),” Scott’s office noted.
The bill was sent to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. So far, there is no House counterpart.
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