West STL News

Congresswoman Ann Wagner has reintroduced the Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act in the 119th Congress. The legislation aims to ensure permanent protection of Americans' personal financial data.

Rep. Ann Wagner stated, "While I welcomed the SEC’s recent decision to exempt the reporting of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the Consolidated Audit Trail, Congress must go even further. We must make this protection permanent and ensure the privacy of our fellow Americans. No one should be forced to endanger their personal information just to invest and save for their family’s future, and this legislation will give greater confidence to Main Street investors."

Rep. Barry Loudermilk expressed concerns about cybersecurity risks associated with the SEC's collection of personal financial information through the Consolidated Audit Trail, describing it as "unconstitutional and entirely unnecessary." He said, "This is why I developed the Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act in the House." He added that among its provisions, "the SEC will only be permitted to request this data in cases directly tied to investigating or enforcing violations of federal securities law."

Senator John Kennedy introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate, S. 658. He commented on potential risks by saying, "Americans assume their private information is secure when they invest money in the U.S. stock market. However, the SEC’s unlawful Consolidated Audit Trail could put their data in jeopardy."

Chris Iacovella from the American Securities Association praised Rep. Loudermilk's efforts: “We thank Congressman Loudermilk for his leadership and for standing up to protect America’s mom-and-pop investors.”

Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., President and CEO of Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), supported this legislative move: “SIFMA applauds Congressman Loudermilk and Senator Kennedy for re-introducing the Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act... For a decade, SIFMA has consistently provided alternatives to collecting such data that still address the SEC’s enforcement concerns."

The proposed legislation seeks to limit automatic data collection by requiring specific investigations before any personal investor information can be requested by regulatory bodies.