for public inspection unless SIPC or the Commission shall determine that disclosure thereof is not in the public interest. Nothing herein shall act to deny documents or information to the Congress of the United States or the committees of either House having jurisdiction over financial institutions, securities regulation, or related matters under the rules of each body. Nor shall the Commission be denied any document or information which the Commission, in its judgment, needs.

(b) LIABILITY OF MEMBERS OF SIPC.-Except for such assessments as may be made upon such member pursuant to the provisions of section 4, no member of SIPC shall have any liability under this Act as a member of SIPC for, or in connection with, any act or omission of any other broker or dealer whether in connection with the conduct of the business or affairs of such broker or dealer or otherwise and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, no member shall have any liability for or in respect of any indebtedness or other liability of SIPC.

(c) LIABILITY OF SIPC AND DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, OR EMPLOYEES.— Neither SIPC nor any of its Directors, officers, or employees shall have any liability to any person for any action taken or omitted in good faith under or in connection with any matter contemplated by this Act.

(d) ADVERTISING. SIPC shall by bylaw prescribe the manner in which a member of SIPC may display any sign or signs (or include in any advertisement a statement) relating to the protection or customers and their accounts, or any other protections, afforded under this Act. No member may display any such sign, or include in an advertisement any such statement, except in accordance with such bylaws. SIPC may also by bylaw prescribe such minimal requirements as it considers necessary and appropriate to require a member of SIPC to provide public notice of its membership in SIPC.

(e) SIPC EXEMPT FROM TAXATION.-SIPC, its property, its franchise, capital, reserves, surplus, and its income, shall be exempt from all taxation now or hereafter imposed by the United States or by any State or local taxing authority, except that any real property and any tangible personal property (other than cash and securities) of SIPC shall be subject to State and local taxation to the same extent according to its value as other real and tangible personal property is taxed. Assessments made upon a member of SIPC shall constitute ordinary and necessary expenses in carrying on the business of such member for the purpose of section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The contribution and transfer to SIPC of funds or securities held by any trust established by a national securities exchange prior to January 1, 1970, for the purpose of providing assistance to customers of members of such exchange, shall not result in any taxable gain to such trust or give rise to any taxable income to any member of SIPC under any provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, nor shall such contribution or transfer, or any reduction in assessments made pursuant to this Act, in any way affect the status, as ordinary and necessary expenses under section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, of any contributions made to such trust by such exchange at any

time prior to such transfer. Upon dissolution of SIPC, none of its net assets shall inure to the benefit of any of its members.

(f) SECTION 20(a) of 1934 ACT NOT TO APPLY.-The provisions of subsection (a) of section 20 of the 1934 Act shall not apply to any liability under or in connection with this Act.

(g) SEC STUDY OF UNSAFE OR UNSOUND PRACTICES.-Not later than twelve months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall compile a list of unsafe or unsound practices by members of SIPC in conducting their business and report to the Congress (1) the steps being taken under the authority of existing law to eliminate those practices and (2) recommendations concerning additional legislation which may be needed to eliminate those unsafe or unsound practices.

SEC. 16. [781] DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this Act, including the application of the Bankruptcy Act to a liquidation proceeding:

(1) COMMISSION.-The term "Commission" means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(2) CUSTOMER.-The term "customer" of a debtor means any person (including any person with whom the debtor deals as principal or agent) who has a claim on account of securities received, acquired, or held by the debtor in the ordinary course of its business as a broker or dealer from or for the securities accounts of such person for safekeeping, with a view to sale, to cover consummated sales, pursuant to purchases, as collateral, security, or for purposes of effecting transfer. The term "customer" includes any person who has a claim against the debtor arising out of sales or conversions of such securities, and any person who has deposited cash with the debtor for the purpose of purchasing securities, but does not include

(A) any person to the extent that the claim of such person arises out of transactions with a foreign subsidiary of a member of SIPC; or

(B) any person to the extent that such person has a claim for cash or securities which by contract, agreement, or understanding, or by operation of law, is part of the capital of the debtor, or is subordinated to the claims of any or all creditors of the debtor, notwithstanding that some ground exists for declaring such contract, agreement, or understanding void or voidable in a suit between the claimant and the debtor.

(3) CUSTOMER NAME SECURITIES.-The term "customer name securities" means securities which were held for the account of a customer on the filing date by or on behalf of the debtor and which on the filing date were registered in the name of the customer, or were in the process of being so registered pursuant to instructions from the debtor, but does not include securities registered in the name of the customer which, by endorsement or otherwise, were in negotiable form.

(4) CUSTOMER PROPERTY.-The term "customer property" means cash and securities (except customer name securities delivered to the customer) at any time received, acquired, or held by or for the account of a debtor from or for the securities ac

counts of a customer, and the proceeds of any such property transferred by the debtor, including property unlawfully converted. The term "customer property" includes

(A) securities held as property of the debtor to the extent that the inability of the debtor to meet its obligations to customers for their net equity claims based on securities of the same class and series of an issuer is attributable to the debtor's noncompliance with the requirements of section 15(c)(3) of the 1934 Act and the rules prescribed under such section;

(B) resources provided through the use or realization of customers' debit cash balances and other customer-related debit items as defined by the Commission by rule;

(C) any cash or securities apportioned to customer property pursuant to section 6(d); and

(D) any other property of the debtor which, upon compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, would have been set aside or held for the benefit of customers, unless the trustee determines that including such property within the meaning of such term would not significantly. increase customer property.

(5) DEBTOR.-The term "debtor" means a member of SIPC with respect to whom an application for a protective decree has been filed under section 5(a)(3) or a direct payment procedure has been instituted under section 10(b).

(6) EXAMINING AUTHORITY.—The term "examining authority" means, with respect to any member of SIPC (A) the self-regulatory organization which inspects or examines such member of SIPC, or (B) the Commission if such member of SIPC is not a member of or participant in any self-regulatory organization or if the Commission has designated itself examining authority for such member pursuant to section 13(c).

(7) FILING DATE.-The term "filing date" means the date on which an application for a protective decree is filed under section 5(a)(3), except that

(A) if a petition under title 11 of the United States Code concerning the debtor was filed before such date, the term "filing date" means the date on which such petition was filed;

(B) if the debtor is the subject of a proceeding pending in any court or before any agency of the United States or any State in which a receiver, trustee, or liquidator for such debtor has been appointed and such proceeding was commenced before the date on which such application was filed, the term "filing date" means the date on which such proceeding was commenced; or

(C) if the debtor is the subject of a direct payment procedure or was the subject of a direct payment procedure discontinued by SIPC pursuant to section 10(f), the term "filing date" reans the date on which notice of such direct payment procedure was published under section 10(b). (8) FOREIGN SUBSIDIARY.-The term "foreign subsidiary" means any subsidiary of a member of SIPC which has its prin

cipal place of business in a foreign country or which is organized under the laws of a foreign country.

(9) GROSS REVENUES FROM THE SECURITIES BUSINESS.-The term "gross revenues from the securities business" means the sum of (but without duplication)—

(A) commissions earned in connection with transactions in securities effected for customers as agent (net of commissions paid to other brokers and dealers in connection with such transactions) and markups with respect to purchases or sales of securities as principal;

(B) charges for executing or clearing transactions in securities for other brokers and dealers;

(C) the net realized gain, if any, from principal transactions in securities in trading accounts;

(D) the net profit, if any, from the management of or participation in the underwriting or distribution of securities;

(E) interest earned on customers' securities accounts;

(F) fees for investment advisory services (except when rendered to one or more registered investment companies or insurance company separate accounts) or account supervision with respect to securities;

(G) fees for the solicitation of proxies with respect to, or tenders or exchanges of, securities;

(H) income from service charges or other surcharges with respect to securities;

(I) except as otherwise provided by rule of the Commission, dividends and interest received on securities in investment accounts of the broker or dealer;

(J) fees in connection with put, call, and other option transactions in securities;

(K) commissions earned from transactions in (i) certificates of deposit, and (ii) Treasury bills, bankers acceptances, or commercial paper which have a maturity at the time of issuance of not exceeding nine months, exclusive of days of grace, or any renewal thereof, the maturity of which is likewise limited, except that SIPC shall by bylaw include in the aggregate of gross revenues only an appropriate percentage of such commissions based on SIPC's loss experience with respect to such instruments over at least the preceding five years; and

(L) fees and other income from such other categories of the securities business as SIPC shall provide by bylaw. Such term does not include revenues received by a broker or dealer in connection with the distribution of shares of a registered open end investment company or unit investment trust or revenues derived by a broker or dealer from the sale of variable annuities or from the conduct of the business of insur

ance.

(10) LIQUIDATION PROCEEDING.-The term "liquidation proceeding" means any proceeding for the liquidation of a debtor under this Act in which a trustee has been appointed under section 5(b)(3).

(11) NET EQUITY.-The term "net equity" means the dollar amount of the account or accounts of a customer, to be determined by

(A) calculating the sum which would have been owed by the debtor to such customer if the debtor had liquidated, by sale or purchase on the filing date, all securities positions of such customer (other than customer name securities reclaimed by such customer); minus

(B) any indebtedness of such customer to the debtor on the filing date; plus

(C) any payment by such customer of such indebtedness to the debtor which is made with the approval of the trustee and within such period as the trustee may determine (but in no event more than sixty days after the publication of notice under section 8(a)).

In determining net equity under this paragraph, accounts held by a customer in separate capacities shall be deemed to be accounts of separate customers.

(12) PERSONS REGISTERED AS BROKERS OR DEALERS.-The term "persons registered as brokers or dealers" includes any person who is a member of a national securities exchange.

(13) PROTECTIVE DECREE.-The term "protective decree" means a decree, issued by a court upon application of SIPC under section 5(a)(3), that the customers of a member of SIPC are in need of the protection provided under this Act.

(14) SECURITY.-The term "security" means any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, any collateral trust certificate, preorganization certificate or subscription, transferable share, voting trust certificate, certificate of deposit, certificate of deposit for a security, any investment contract or certificate of interest or participation in any profitsharing agreement or in any oil, gas, or mineral royalty or lease (if such investment contract or interest is the subject of a registration statement with the Commission pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933), any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security, or group or index of securities (including any interest therein or based on the value thereof), or any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege entered into on a national securities exchange relating to foreign currency, any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase or sell any of the foregoing, and any other instrument commonly known as a security. Except as specifically provided above, the term "security" does not include any currency, or any commodity or related contract or futures contract, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase or sell any of the foregoing.