News

April 3, 2025

On March 27, the SEC voted to abandon its prior defense of climate disclosure rules for public companies adopted in March 2024. Following its vote, the SEC sent a letter to the court that had consolidated the pending litigation that it was withdrawing its defense of the rules.

April 2, 2025

On Thursday, April 3 at 2:00pm ET, MFDF and Paul Felsch the Founder & Owner of compliance consulting firm Helios, plan to host a webinar titled “Protectors & Partners: Best Practices of Director Oversight of Fund Management and Selected Fund Service Providers.”

April 1, 2025

Ropes & Gray published a white paper and recorded a webinar outlining how fund groups can prepare for anticipated SEC exemptive relief. The paper notes several considerations fund complexes should consider prior to launching an ETF share class, which include, the fund board’s “best interest determination,” operational hurdles, and service provider requirements.

March 31, 2025

In his written testimony, Atkins noted that regulation should be “smart, effective, and appropriately tailored within the confines of the regulator’s statutory authority… clear rules of the road benefit all market participants.” His testimony emphasized that the role of the SEC should be to facilitate well-designed regulation, analyze effectiveness of regulation, and utilize the SEC’s enforcement arm to challenge illegal behavior.

March 27, 2025

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporate Finance issued a no-action letter clarifying what “reasonable steps” means to verify an individual’s accredited investor status as required under amended Rule 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933.

March 26, 2025

Panelists discussed the SEC leadership transition and what these changes mean for rulemaking, enforcement, and the Commission’s priorities. The panelists also share perspectives from their time at the SEC.

March 25, 2025

On March 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a release that delays the compliance date for the amended Names Rule under Rule 35d-1 for six months.

March 24, 2025

In his address, Acting Chair Uyeda noted that the Commission desires a return to a rulemaking process that engages stakeholders and allows for a longer period of time to comment on rule proposals.

March 21, 2025

The Senate Banking Committee announced plans to hold a nomination hearing for Paul Atkins to serve as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, March 27 at 10:00am ET.

March 20, 2025

The report outlines current trends in the active ETF space and discusses “clones, siblings, and cousins,” definitions that connect similar established active mutual funds to ETF products.

March 19, 2025

In a press release the Commission noted it delayed compliance dates “by one year to Dec. 31, 2026, for eligible cash market transactions, and June 30, 2027, for eligible repo market transactions.”

March 18, 2025

The hearing focused on the definition of an accredited investor, capital formation for small businesses, extending retail investor access to private markets, and the role of Business Development Companies (BDCs), among other topics.

March 17, 2025

The alert highlights areas the SEC Enforcement team focused on for Fiscal Year 2024 including off-channel communications, the marketing rule, affiliated transactions under the Investment Company Act, artificial intelligence (AI), and others. The alert noted that the Enforcement Division “brought a total of 583 enforcement actions in FY2024, a 26% decrease from FY2023 and a 26% decrease from the average of all four years of Clayton’s term.”

March 13, 2025

The article is the first in a five-part series covering potential areas where conflicts of interest may exist. In the first article, Mr. Donohue explores the practices that led to the enactment of the Investment Advisers Act and areas where boards should remain continuously vigilant.

March 12, 2025

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to hold an “Artificial Intelligence Roundtable” for interested parties. The goal of the program is to “discuss the risks, benefits, and governance of AI in the financial industry.”

March 11, 2025

Dianne Descoteaux, MFDF's senior counsel, Steve Byers, independent director and chair of DBX ETF Trust, and Jeff Keil, owner of Keil Fiduciary Strategies, will discuss navigating the challenges around Gartenberg factors during the 15(c) process.

March 10, 2025

Boards may ask about the deployment of distribution resources, including field sales coverage and the use of distribution specialists who may be able to explain approaches to segmentation and targeting. In addition, directors may seek to ask about marketing content and delivery and the effectiveness of engagement initiatives.

March 6, 2025

The program will provide an introduction to tokenization, discuss the increasing number of pooled investment vehicles that are undergoing tokenization, as well as highlight key issues in this space.

March 5, 2025

The news alert highlights several areas of interest including the SEC’s directive to pause the climate-disclosure rule litigation in the 8th Circuit and new guidance on beneficial ownership reporting. According to the alert, the change in administration has brought about “an increased skepticism at the federal level for ESG-related initiatives and shareholder engagement.”

March 4, 2025

Commissioner Peirce and the Task Force are looking to hear from industry stakeholders on issues related to crypto’s security status, those that are out of scope, public offerings of crypto, allowing registration safe harbors, trading, crypto exchange-traded products, and custody issues, among other areas.