ASA Applauds Appropriations Effort to Protect American Retail Investor Privacy

Sends letter of support ahead of House FSGG Markup of FY 2025 bill

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today sent a letter of support to House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee leadership ahead of a markup on its Fiscal Year 2025 bill. The bill includes a key ASA advocacy priority prohibiting the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from collecting the personally identifiable information (PII) of every retail investor that trades a share of stock on a U.S. securities exchange through the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) database (Sec. 555).

“ASA applauds Chairman Joyce and the Committee for its leadership in protecting the constitutional privacy rights of every American investor,” said ASA President and CEO Chris Iacovella. “We support Congress using the appropriations process to protect Americans from warrantless government surveillance.”

ASA and Citadel Securities jointly challenged the SEC’s CAT in the Eleventh Circuit in response to widespread investor concerns about transparency, governance, costs, and data privacy.

ASA recently commended the bicameral introduction of legislation protecting the privacy rights of American investors, as well as an Attorneys General letter to Congress urging the protection of investor privacy. Throughout the 118th Congress, ASA has worked with Members of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to advocate for the removal of personal and financial information from the CAT.

To read the full letter, click here.

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American Securities Association, based in Washington, DC, represents the retail and institutional capital markets interests of regional financial services firms who provide Main Street businesses with access to capital and advise hardworking Americans how to create and preserve wealth. ASA’s mission is to promote trust and confidence among investors, facilitate capital formation, and support efficient and competitively balanced capital markets. This mission advances financial independence, stimulates job creation, and increases prosperity. The ASA has a geographically diverse membership of almost one hundred members that spans the Heartland, Southwest, Southeast, Atlantic, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States.