RIFA Act

Increased Transparency: The bill requires the Secretary to establish and maintain a searchable, public database where all submitted reports are made available in electronic and downloadable formats (Section 2(a)(h)). This allows the public to identify and compare investment data.

Accountability for Institutions: Institutions must designate a compliance officer who is responsible for personally certifying that the reported information is accurate (Section 2(a)(g)).

Monitoring of Risks: The Secretary, after consulting with the Secretary of the Treasury and the SEC, can establish procedures to certify whether pooled investments are holding investments of concern, providing a mechanism to clarify investment types (Section 2(a)(c)).

Heavy Financial Penalties: Institutions that knowingly or willfully fail to comply face significant fines. First-time violators can be fined between 50% and 100% of the aggregate value of their investments of concern plus any value from sales during that year; subsequent violators face fines between 100% and 200% (Section 2(a)(i)(4)).

Loss of Federal Program Eligibility: An institution that violates these requirements for three consecutive institutional fiscal years will be ineligible to participate in programs authorized by the Higher Education Act for at least two years (Section 2(b)).

Increased Compliance Costs: Institutions are required to designate and maintain a compliance officer to certify the accuracy of their reports (Section 2(a)(g)). Additionally, institutions compelled to comply through a civil action must pay the full costs of investigation and enforcement to the United States Treasury (Section 2(a)(i)(3)(A)).