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SEC. 602.
APPEARANCE AND PRACTICE BEFORE THE COMMISSION.
The
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a
et seq.)
is amended by
inserting after section 4B the following:
‘‘SEC. 4C.
APPEARANCE AND PRACTICE BEFORE THE COMMISSION.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO
CENSURE.—The Commission may censure
any person,
or deny, temporarily or permanently, to any
person
the privilege
of appearing or practicing before the
Commission
in any way,
if that person is found by the Commission,
after
notice and
opportunity for hearing in the matter—
‘‘(1) not to
possess the requisite qualifications to
represent
others;
‘‘(2) to be
lacking in character or integrity, or to have
engaged in
unethical or improper professional conduct; or
‘‘(3) to have
willfully violated, or willfully aided and
abetted
the violation
of, any provision of the securities laws or
the
rules and
regulations issued thereunder.
‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—With
respect to any registered public
accounting
firm or associated person, for purposes of
this section,
the term
‘improper professional conduct’ means—
‘‘(1)
intentional or knowing conduct, including
reckless conduct,
that results
in a violation of applicable professional
standards;
and
‘‘(2)
negligent conduct in the form of—
‘‘(A) a
single instance of highly unreasonable conduct
that results
in a violation of applicable professional
standards
in
circumstances in which the registered public
accounting
firm or associated person knows, or should
know, that
heightened scrutiny is warranted; or
‘‘(B)
repeated instances of unreasonable conduct,
each
resulting in
a violation of applicable professional
standards,
that indicate
a lack of competence to practice before the
Commission.’’.
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