Congress is currently working on legislation to fund the Securities and Exchange Commission for the first several weeks of FY 2012, which begins on Oct. 1. However, regardless of the outcome of this work, the fees paid under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act will remain at their current rate until 60 days after the enactment of a regular appropriation for the Commission.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Commission will be required to publish a revised fee rate 30 days after the Commission’s regular appropriation for FY 2012 is enacted, and this new fee rate will become effective 60 days after the appropriation is enacted. Until this time, the Section 31 fee rate will remain at the current rate of $19.20 per million. The Section 31 assessment on round turn transactions in security futures also will remain at $0.0042 per transaction.
The Office of Interpretation and Guidance in the Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets is available for questions on Section 31 at (202) 551-5777 or by e-mail at tradingandmarkets@sec.gov.