Empowering Shareholders Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8265 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8265 To amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to establish requirements for proxy voting of passively managed funds, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 14, 2026 Mr. Huizenga introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to establish requirements for proxy voting of passively managed funds, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Empowering Shareholders Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. PROXY VOTING OF PASSIVELY MANAGED FUNDS. (a) In General.--The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-1 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 208 (15 U.S.C. 80b-8) the following: ``SEC. 208A. PROXY VOTING OF PASSIVELY MANAGED FUNDS. ``(a) Investment Adviser Proxy Voting.-- ``(1) In general.--An investment adviser that holds authority to vote a proxy solicited by an issuer pursuant to section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78n) in connection with any vote of covered securities held by a passively managed fund shall-- ``(A) vote in accordance with the instructions (which may include the selection of a published voting policy) of the beneficial owner (or fiduciary or other designee with proxy voting authority on their behalf) of a voting security of the passively managed fund; ``(B) vote in accordance with the voting recommendations of the board of directors (or similar governing body) of such issuer; ``(C) abstain from voting such securities but make reasonable efforts to be considered present