News

June 27, 2024

The hearing, a routine part of the annual appropriations process, focused on the Commission’s rulemaking efforts, enforcement actions, and the risk technological change poses for financial markets. While discussing the impact technology has had on financial markets and the complexity of regulating, Gensler emphasized that “the SEC is cutting its IT program by about a quarter this fiscal year because of budget pressures.”

June 26, 2024

The survey provides market data on the level of intermediary fees being paid which are broken down by distribution channels/platforms as well as classes and types of fees paid.

June 25, 2024

The petition was brought by several private fund industry groups which called the Commission’s rulemaking efforts an overreach under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Dodd Frank Act. While noting the exponential growth of the private fund sector, the Fifth Circuit Court noted that private funds were specifically exempt from certain requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

June 24, 2024

In its application, NYSE noted that due to “significant statutory protections under the 1940 Act provided to shareholders of CEFs, for which there are no parallel legal protections for the shareholders of public operating companies,” NYSE believes it is appropriate to exempt CEFs from the annual shareholder meeting requirement.

June 20, 2024

K&L Gates Partners and Apex Group will discuss the current market forces that make this an interesting time to consider bringing alternative asset classes to retail clients in a registered fund wrapper.

June 18, 2024

The exchanges’ applications petitioned for SEC approval to change Rule 19b-4 forms to allow for the listing of Ether-based products. Even with this change, issuers need the SEC to approve fund registration statements detailing investor disclosures.

June 17, 2024

Dechert Partners Megan Johnson and Corey Rose will dive into the regional banking volatility of 2023 and discuss the regulatory response and overall impact on investment management.

June 13, 2024

Dechert Partners will cover emerging issues and interpretive questions under the amended Names Rule.

June 12, 2024

In his remarks, SEC Chair Gary Gensler detailed the various historical inflection points in securities regulation, and how laws were changed to respond to such events. He noted in the current markets “the world may be changing faster than Taylor’s wardrobe changes on tour,” and emphasized that areas such as “[a]rtificial intelligence, social media, influencers, and a global pandemic” may require similar amendments to securities regulation.

June 11, 2024

In the first of this two-part series, EY's Prashant Kher and Brendan Maher will discuss the digital asset trends in the fund industry and highlight what directors should know about these offerings.

June 10, 2024

The paper breaks down the basics of these closed-end fund products including how shares are offered, conditions for repurchase, types of investments allowed, liquidity restrictions, and other regulatory concerns.

June 6, 2024

The paper delves into the influence the firms have in shareholder elections and how they test the validity of those recommendations. The paper also has a section devoted to how proxy advisory firms assess board candidates, it focuses on corporate directors but has applications for fund directors.

June 5, 2024

The report, which will be updated annually, covers adviser activities, client composition, and detailed information on the types of funds offered.

June 4, 2024

The conference focused on trends in products and strategies, technology, and regulation. Former MFDF President Susan Wyderko spoke on issues related to registered funds noting that since the creation of the Commission, the basic issues have not materially changed. She added independent fund directors are equipped to handle conflicts of interest as well as understanding their role in overseeing technology changes and developments.

June 3, 2024

On May 16, the SEC adopted rule amendments that require registered funds, among other entities, to adopt written incident response procedures to address unauthorized access to customer information, including notification procedures that provide details about the incident designed to help facilitate timely and appropriate responses.

May 30, 2024

These steps include taking an inventory of the firm’s current AI use, assessing the risk, implementing controls around the use of AI, and a review AI-related disclosures.

May 29, 2024

Subcommittee Chairwoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) emphasized that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement policy must strike the right balance between deterring and punishing securities fraud, preserving due process rights, and protecting the interests of those who rely on U.S. markets.

May 28, 2024

FinCEN and the SEC jointly released a notice of proposed rulemaking on Customer Identification Programs (the “CIP Proposal”) that would require SEC-registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) and exempt reporting advisers (“ERAs”) to establish, document, and maintain written CIPs.

May 23, 2024

The AI Act sets forth comprehensive rules regarding AI transparency, data protection and oversight. The AI Act utilizes a risk-based approach that applies different requirements based on four categories of risk: unacceptable risk, high risk, limited risk and minimal risk.

May 22, 2024

The Risk Alert noted that key violations stemmed from overt violations of prohibitions in the marketing rule, including requirements relating to adopting and implementing policies and procedures, maintaining records, and adequately responding to Form ADV items relating to performance advertisements.