15 U.S.C. § 7218

(a) Omitted (b) Commission authority The Commission shall promulgate such rules and regulations to carry out section 77s(b) of this title as it deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors. (c) No effect on Commission powers Nothing in this Act, including this section and the amendment made by this section, shall be construed to impair or limit the authority of the Commission to establish accounting principles or standards for purposes of enforcement of the securities laws. (d) Study and report on adopting principles-based accounting (1) Study (A) In general The Commission shall conduct a study on the adoption by the United States financial reporting system of a principles-based accounting system. (B) Study topics The study required by subparagraph (A) shall include an examination of— (i) the extent to which principles-based accounting and financial reporting exists in the United States; (ii) the length of time required for change from a rules-based to a principles-based financial reporting system; (iii) the feasibility of and proposed methods by which a principles-based system may be implemented; and (iv) a thorough economic analysis of the implementation of a principles-based system. (2) Report Not later than 1 year after July 30, 2002 , the Commission shall submit a report on the results of the study required by paragraph (1) to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives.