The U.S. Securities Industry Association is mobilizing a grassroots campaign to urge the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to cut securities transaction and registration fees while providing pay parity for Securities and Exchange Commission employees.

The House of Representatives passed the Investor and Capital Markets Fee Relief Act by a 404-22 vote in mid-June, while the Senate passed a different version by unanimous consent in March. To avoid the time-consuming process of a House-Senate conference, the SIA says, Senate passage of the House measure is needed.

“Both the House and the Senate have overwhelmingly passed legislation that sharply reduces the surcharge on investing and provides the compensation incentive that the SEC needs to attract and retain highly qualified employees,” said Steve Judge, SIA’s senior vice president of government affairs. “Passage of the House bill by the Senate would speed the legislation’s trip to the President’s desk for signature. This is an opportunity to help investors and ensure that the SEC continues to be an effective, competent regulator. We’re encouraging investors to contact their Senators and urge swift consideration of the legislation.”

The SIA says that securities transaction and registration fees exceeded US$2.2 billion last year alone — six times more than the SEC’s budget. The House bill would save investors an estimated US$14 billion in fees over the next decade while granting pay parity for the SEC.

The CEO’s of SIA member-firms are also asking their employees to contact the Senate, using the SIA’s Web site. The SIA says its last grassroots effort yielded more than 50,000 letters, which helped gain congressional approval of retirement savings incentives.

“Investors realize that they benefit from having a tough cop on the beat to protect their interests,” Stuart Kaswell, SIA’s general counsel and senior vice president. “Unfortunately, the SEC’s pay scale is not comparable to that of other banking regulators, who have raised their compensation levels to be more competitive with the financial services industry. It’s essential that the SEC have the best and brightest staff that it can attract. Raising pay for its employees to levels comparable with what the banking regulators provide would enable the SEC to accomplish that goal.”