Bill: Draft Accounting Reform Act

[Anthony_Org]

A
BILL
To


Amend the Commercial Standards Act, Taxation Act and Federal Reserve Act​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:


1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Accounting Reform Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored and sponsored by Representative Anthony_Org.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Senator Bezzergezzer.

2 - Reasons
(1) To strengthen the integrity, transparency, and reliability of financial reporting in DemocracyCraft.
(2) To prevent fraud, misrepresentation, and malpractice in financial reporting.
(3) To amend the Commercial Standards Act to require financial reports to be prepared by an accountant.
(4) To amend the Taxation Act to improve clarity and require financial reports to be prepared by an accountant.
(5) To amend the Federal Reserve Act to require the Federal Reserve Board to be accountants

3 - Amendments

14 - Public Company Reporting of the Commercial Standards Act shall be amended as follows:

(1) All Public Companies shall be required to file the following financial statements monthly:
(a) Balance Sheet
(b) Income Statement
(c) Statement of Owners Equity
(d) Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) Note.

(2) The statements must be publicly available through the stock exchange the public company is listed on and the company Discord, if applicable, in an accessible form that can be downloaded.

(3) Public companies must have their audit status disclosed alongside their statements.
(a) The two statuses are Audited and Unaudited
(i) Audited: The company has received a statutory audit in the previous 3 months. The date of the most recent audit, and who conducted the audit must also be disclosed.
(ii) Unaudited: The company has not received a statutory audit in the previous 3 months.

(4) All financial reports must be prepared and submitted by an accountant.

7 - Financial Records and Reporting of the Taxation Act shall be amended as follows:

(1) Deposit-taking financial institutions must keep detailed accounts of their investment revenue and obligations to their depositors.
(a) Should deposit-taking financial institutions misrepresent their profits to the Department of Commerce, the entity will be liable for prosecution.
(b) Profits shall be calculated as the earnings the financial institution keeps after all operating costs are paid. Profit shall be calculated from the date of the last report or, in the first report, the first day of trading.

(2) Deposit-taking financial institutions are required to report to the Department of Commerce by the end of the first week of the succeeding month:

FINANCIAL REPORT
(a) Profits
(b) Total assets and liabilities as of the last day of the preceding month
(c) Any significant changes in the financial condition or operations of the institution
(d) A summary of the institution's investment portfolio, including details on securities, loans, and other financial instruments held
(e) Information on any regulatory actions, legal proceedings, or other material events that may impact the institution's financial stability
(f) Compliance status with relevant financial regulations and guidelines
(a) Income Statement
(b) Balance Sheet
(c) Statement of Owner’s Equity
(d) Liquidity & Reserve Compliance Report
(e) Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) – a narrative disclosure addressing:
(i) Any significant changes in the financial condition or operations of the institution since the prior reporting period.
(ii) A summary of the institution’s investment portfolio, including securities, loans, and other financial instruments held.
(iii) Information on any regulatory actions, legal proceedings, or other material events that may impact the institution’s financial stability.
(iv) The institution’s compliance status with relevant financial regulations and guidelines.

(3) All financial reports must be prepared and submitted by an accountant.

(4) Failure to comply with reporting requirements will result in the financial institution surrendering its taxation exemption status until a report is submitted.

5 - Governance of the Federal Reserve Act will be amended as follows :

(1) The Federal Reserve Board

(a) The Federal Reserve Board shall be the governing body of the Federal Reserve Bank.

(b) The Federal Reserve Board shall set the internal budgets of the FRB.

(c) It shall have 4 seats for Sitting Board Members and additionally 1 ex officio seat for the Secretary of the Department of Commerce.

(d) Any authority or power given to the FRB as a whole shall be regarded as given to the Federal Reserve Board.

(e) Each Board Member shall have 1 vote.

(f) An individual may only occupy one Board Member seat.

(g) There shall be a quorum of 2 votes on all motions, decisions, and policy. Any votation that do not meet this quorum will be invalid.

(i) Votes made by the Secretary of the Department of Commerce shall not count towards the quorum.

(h) The Secretary of the Department of Commerce shall be the ex officio Board Member

(i) They shall be considered a full Board Member except where otherwise defined.

(ii) They shall not vote, unless to break a tie.

(iii) They shall not be able to become Governor or Lieutenant-Governor.

(iv) They shall be exempt from any provision in this Act which removes, suspends or limits Board Members through a vote (Board, Senate or otherwise) except where otherwise defined.

(i) Sitting Board Members shall be nominated by the House of Representatives with a majority, and confirmed by the Senate with a supermajority.

(i) Upon the proposal of a motion to nominate, a joint hearing shall be created for Representatives and Senators. The voting period of the House motion shall end 48 hours after conclusion of the hearing and the motion shall go to the Senate.

(j) Board Members must have the Accountant License

(k) Term:

(i) A Sitting Board Member may not serve a term longer than 4 months before needing reconfirmation, but may serve multiple terms.

(ii) This term shall begin on the first day of the month according to the Board Members' class.

(1) Class A: February, June, October

(2) Class B: April, August, December

(iii) Sitting Board Members shall be divided into 2 members in class A and 2 members in class B.

(iv) This term shall end 4 calendar months after the earliest point it was able to begin.

(v) The Sitting Board Member whose term has ended shall be automatically removed unless reconfirmed before the term ended.

(vi) An individual may be confirmed up to 7 days before the term begins. In this case, they shall only become a Sitting Board Member at the start of the term.

(l) Exclusions:

(i) If a Sitting Board Member is appointed or elected to an excluded position, then they shall be removed from their position as Sitting Board Member upon deciding to accept the excluded position unless overridden.

(ii) An exclusion may be overridden by a supermajority in both chambers of Congress.

(iii) Suspended Sitting Board Members shall be able to be removed with a majority vote in both chambers of Congress without the need for an impeachment trial.

(iv) The following positions shall be excluded from becoming a Sitting Board Member:

(1) Senators

(2) Representatives

(3) The Secretary of the Department of Commerce

(4) The President

(5) The Vice-President

(m) A Board Member shall not be regarded as a principal officer of the Executive.

(n ) Removal of a Board Member

(i) A Board Member shall only be able to be removed through impeachment, except otherwise defined by law.

(ii) Impeachment

(1) Only the following charges are reasons for impeachment:

(a) Abuse of power

(b) Serious negligence

(c) Corruption

(d) Serious incompetence

(e) Persistent inactivity

(2) Process:

(a) The House of Representatives shall lay the charges by supermajority vote.

(b) The Senate shall be the judge in the trial, with the President of the Senate leading the trial.

(c) The Senate can only convict a Board Member with a supermajority.

(i) The punishment for conviction may be one or a combination of the following:

(1) A public reprimand

(2) Suspension as a Board Member for a duration up to the rest of the term.

(3) Removal as a Board Member.

(iii) A Board Member may be removed with a majority vote in both chambers of Congress if they are inactive.

(1) Inactivity shall not take playtime into account (Comments: FRB members are mostly discordcrafting. This is the same thing as with judges, they are also more on the forums than in-game.)

(2) The inactivity statute shall be suspended for Board Members who receive an Excuse from Duty passed by a majority vote in the Senate.

(3) Inactivity shall be defined as follows:

(a) If at least 4 Board motions, decisions, resolutions, or policy fail due to lack of quorum, each at least 24 hours apart, over the span of a week.

(b) If there is a clear lack of involvement in the governance of the FRB, beyond a reasonable doubt. It may be judicially challenged in the Federal Court of Redmont. The case must be filed within 10 days of the removal.

(2) The Governor of the FRB

(a) Authority:

(i) The Governor shall have the executive authority of the FRB.

(ii) The Governor shall be the principal representative of the FRB.

(iii) The Governor may delegate powers and responsibilities to the Lieutenant-Governor.

(b) Responsibilities:

(i) Ensuring the good management of the FRB.

(ii) Ensuring compliance with all laws and regulations.

(iii) Execute the laws and policy within the purview of the FRB.

(c) The Governor shall be internally elected and removed by a majority of the whole Federal Reserve Board according to a process determined by the board. This process shall be free and fair. The vote requirement may not be changed.

(d) The Governor must be a Board Member.

(3) The Lieutenant-Governor of the FRB

(a) The Lieutenant-Governor shall be the second in command.

(i) The Lieutenant-Governor shall become the Acting Governor if the Governor is incapacitated or the position is vacant.

(ii) The Lieutenant-Governor who became the Acting Governor shall be relieved of the Acting Governor position if the incapacitation of the incapacitated Governor ends.

(b) The Lieutenant-Governor shall be internally elected and removed by a majority of the whole Federal Reserve Board according to a process determined by the board. This process shall be free and fair. The vote requirement may not be changed.

(c) The Lieutenant-Governor may not be the same individual as the Governor.

(d) The Lieutenant-Governor must be a Board Member.