Compliance May 13, 2025

In Letter, Lawmakers Ask SEC to Delist Chinese Stocks From US Exchanges

The May 2 letter to the SEC followed recent concerns expressed by lawmakers over U.S. investments in China, including two bills introduced this year.

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Lawmakers from both parties sent a joint letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins, calling on the commission to delist companies allegedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party, citing U.S. market and investor security.

The May 2 letter followed recent concerns expressed by lawmakers over U.S. investments in China, including two bills introduced this year.

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In the latest effort, the bipartisan group of 10 members of Congress, including Senator Rick Scott, R-Florida, chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Michigan, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, said that companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party “pose an unacceptable risk to American investors” and that by removing them from U.S. exchanges, the SEC would “protect U.S. markets, investors, and national security.”

The letter listed several examples of Chinese companies it asked to be blocked from U.S. stock exchanges, including technology companies Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, digital finance firm Qifu Technology and e-commerce company JD.com.

As of March 7, 286 Chinese companies were listed on U.S. exchanges, with a total market capitalization of $1.1 trillion, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

According to the congressional letter, allowing the investments to list makes the U.S. a financing vehicle for its most powerful adversary and threatens national security.

Since January, several bills have been introduced in efforts to curtail Chinese investments in the U.S. In March, Senator Jim Banks, R-Indiana, introduced legislation that would ban 401(k) funds from investing in China.

A separate March bill, introduced by Representative Andy Barr, R-Kentucky—the Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart China Act—would “protect the national security of the United States by imposing sanctions with respect to certain persons of the People’s Republic of China and prohibiting and requiring notifications with respect to certain investments by United States persons in the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.”

In April, another bill, introduced by Senator Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, would require the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review “greenfield and brownfield investments by foreign countries of concern.” Though the bill did not specifically name China, a press release announcing the legislation made clear the new authority would curtail investments in the U.S. made by companies based in China.

Meanwhile, in January, the U.S. imposed new restrictions on outbound following an executive order from former President Joe Biden. The restrictions apply to investments in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and quantum computing.
Compliance May 13, 2025

Senate Bill Would Expand Retirement Plan Access to Younger Americans

Several organizations offered support for the legislation, including TIAA and the Insured Retirement Institute.

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Two senators reintroduced a bill on Monday that would expand access to employer-sponsored retirement plans for Americans aged 18 through 20 years old.

The Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act, introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; and Senator Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, a member of the Senate HELP Committee, would lower to 18 the age at which plan participants must be permitted to participate in defined contribution plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

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The original bill, introduced in November 2023 by Cassidy, Kaine and several other senators, was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but did not advance.

The legislation also includes provisions that would make it less costly for employers to extend benefits to younger employees.

The bill would delay ERISA provisions that require companies to undergo mandatory audits if they allow employees younger than 21 to contribute to a pension and would exempt 18-through-20-year-old employees from testing of their funds, which would further reduce the administrative costs for employers.

“Americans who don’t attend college and immediately enter the workforce should be given every chance to save for retirement,” Cassidy said in a statement. “This legislation empowers American workers, giving them more opportunities to plan for a secure retirement.”

Several organizations offered support for the legislation, including the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and College Retirement Equities Fund and the Insured Retirement Institute.

“By lowering the age at which an individual can access their workplace retirement plan from 21 to 18, the Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Ac helps workers start saving earlier,” Kourtney Gibson, TIAA’s CEO of retirement solutions, wrote in a letter to the senators. “We know from experience that the sooner one starts saving, the better off they will be in the future and the more likely they will be to have adequate income in retirement.”

“The Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act will expand the opportunity for more younger workers to start saving earlier for retirement by allowing them to participate in their employer-sponsored workplace plans,” said a statement from Paul Richman, Chief Government and Political Affairs Officer at the Insured Retirement Institute. “This measure will not only help younger workers get into the habit of contributing to their retirement savings, but it will also provide additional years for their savings to grow to ensure a more secure financial future.”

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