H.R. 4166: Expanding Proven Financing for American Employers Act

114th Congress · introduced 2015-12-03 · Finance and Financial Sector · Latest: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 462.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-12-03 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 462. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Expanding Proven Financing for American Employers Act

Plain summary

Expanding Proven Financing for American Employers Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to permit the manager of a qualified collateralized loan obligation, or one or more of the majority-owned affiliates of the manager (or its knowledgeable employees and other employees), to meet the risk retention requirement for a qualified collateralized loan obligation by the purchase and holding (without transferring the credit risk) of the value of at least 5% of the equity distributed among each of the higher tranches of the issuance with at least 3.5% retained as equity of the collateralized loan obligation. The bill prescribes characteristics of a qualified collateralized loan obligation with respect to: asset quality protections that have at least 100% of the obligation's assets composed of senior secured loans and cash equivalents, asset portfolio protections, structural protections, alignment of manager and investor interests, regulatory oversight requirements, and transparency and disclosure requirements. Further criteria for the asset quality protections for a qualified collaterilized loan obligation require that the obligation: have 100% of its loan assets issued by companies; have no assets that are asset-backed securities or derivatives (except for an acquired loan participation, any interest related to or in a letter of credit, or a derivative transaction to hedge interest rate or currency rate mismatches); not purchase assets in default, margin stock, or equity convertible securities; acquire only loans held or acquired by three or more investors or lenders unaffiliated with the manager; hold only loans to borrowers whose financial statements are subject to an annual audit from an independent, accredited accounting firm; and have no more than 60% of its assets composed of covenant lite loans, except that each asset shall require disclosure of unaudited quarterly financial statements and of audited annual financial statements. A "covenant lite loan" (or "cov-lite," commonly a loan agreement that does not contain the usual protective covenants for the benefit of the lending party) shall mean in this bill, at the time a collateralized loan obligation enters into a commitment to acquire it, a loan for which the underlying instruments neither: require the obligor to comply with any maintenance covenant; nor contain a cross-default provision to a financing facility of the obligor that requires the obligor to comply with a maintenance covenant (including one that may apply only upon the funding of such other loan or financing facility). If any such loan is pari passu (treated equally and without preference) with another loan of the obligor that would not be a covenant lite loan, such loan shall be deemed not to be a covenant lite loan.

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House with amendment(s)), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Expanding Proven Financing for American Employers Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House with amendment(s))

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] · 12 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 4166, Expanding Proven Financing for American Employers Act (2016-05-23)

Cosponsors on this site

Bill Foster (D-IL), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Ann Wagner (R-MO), J. French Hill (R-AR)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] reported raising $12.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Obligation: A binding promise by a government agency to pay money, for example by signing a contract or awarding a grant. Spending data such as USAspending.gov counts money when it is obligated, which can be before it is actually paid out.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House with amendment(s))
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114hr4166.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/hr>

Record fed-us-cong114-hr4166 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114