MFDF News Feed

March 21, 2023

House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets Chair Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Ranking Member Brad Sherman (D-CA) sent a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler noting issues they believe create an untenable path forward for the Commission’s swing pricing rule proposal. The letter highlights more technical points raised by industry comment letters including implementation issues, system reconfiguration, and investor confusion.

March 20, 2023

Ernst & Young plans to hold a webinar on Wednesday titled, “How Tokenization will Transform Financial Services.” Panelists will discuss market trends around tokenization in financial services and the impact those trends will have on market infrastructure.

March 16, 2023

The report found many audit committees are not only concerned with financial reporting and internal controls, but now also include, “overseeing additional areas of emerging and intensifying risk, such as cybersecurity; enterprise risk management (ERM); and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting.”

March 15, 2023

The March 16 webinar will examine the real world operational challenges mutual funds face if proposed rules on swing pricing and the hard close are adopted, including costly system enhancements; the end of same day pricing for certain investors; and an uneven playing field with ETFs, closed-end funds and other pooled investment vehicles.

March 14, 2023

Late last week, regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank due to a combination of factors including increased customer withdrawals and interest rate risk management issues. The following post is an aggregation of various resources that may be helpful in understanding and tracking recent bank failures and volatility.

March 13, 2023

The Commission recently proposed changes to the Custody Rule (Rule 206(4)-2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, proposing instead a new rule, referred to as “the Safeguarding Rule” (Rule 223-1). The current custody rule only applies to client funds and securities, however, the new rule applies to client assets which includes “funds, securities, or other positions held in the client’s account” as noted in the proposal.

March 9, 2023

The webinar will focus on updates for compliance and legal professionals, but plans to cover recent and upcoming changes to the applicable regulations for SEC-registered and unregistered advisers, as well as some practical tips for compliance which may be relevant to fund directors broadly.

March 8, 2023

Of relevance to fund directors, the report highlights a summary of ESG-related enforcement actions including two cases involving investment advisers that managed mutual funds. Areas of focus continue to be with products including complex products such as “derivatives and leveraged exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded notes and other exchange-traded products,” advisers’ operations and compliance programs, and fees.

March 7, 2023

the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing entitled, “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets.” Democrats on the panel, who hold the majority on the Senate side, agreed with Chairman Sherrod Brown on the importance of transparency, consumer protection, and risk management. Many on the Republican side of the dais noted the importance of balancing consumer protection with the emerging uses of digital asset technology.

March 6, 2023

Seward & Kissel partners from the firm’s Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Group will discuss the SEC’s recent enforcement actions regarding recordkeeping failures related to employee use of personal devices and what clients should consider doing in order to mitigate any issues.

March 2, 2023

The post, authored by professionals from Deloitte & Touche, discusses measures boards may take to oversee third-party risk with greater confidence. The article encourages boards to ask, “probing questions of management regarding its understanding of risk in third-party relationships that exist in the lower tiers of the extended enterprise.”

March 1, 2023

K&L Gates published a series entitled the “ESG and the Sustainable Economy Handbook” which examines “how investors evaluate companies based on ESG and sustainability criteria, the way companies incorporate these standards into their operating principles, and the legal and financial considerations for both groups.”

February 28, 2023

The Mutual Fund Directors Forum and ICI Mutual will host a webinar entitled, “Fund Industry Claims Trends: An Insurer’s Perspective" which will provide an overview of trends and other developments in fund industry claims and in the fund industry insurance market.

February 27, 2023

the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized its rule proposal shortening the settlement cycle of most securities transactions to within one business day of the trade date, what is referred to as “T+1.” The T+1 transition and implementation deadline is currently set for May 28, 2024.

February 23, 2023

The SEC's Division of Examinations staff identified ESG-related investments and strategies that incorporate ESG criteria as a top focus area including a continued focus on potential “greenwashing” at investment firms. Additionally, the staff will continue to focus on the calculation and allocation of fees and expenses, valuation practices, and cybersecurity, as well as other enumerated issues.

February 22, 2023

Over 25 fund boards submitted comment letters opposing the swing pricing mandate, imposition of the hard close, and changes to fund liquidity management. The comments overwhelming objected to the SEC’s proposal citing costs, impact on shareholders, and complications in implementation as reasons for the opposition.

February 21, 2023

On Thursday, the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence will host a panel of experts to discuss board succession planning. While this program is geared toward corporate boards, there are likely to be takeaway lessons for fund boards as well that are looking to develop their succession planning process.

February 16, 2023

This week, the Mutual Fund Directors Forum submitted written comments to the SEC’s proposal that would mandate swing pricing and make significant changes to fund liquidity management programs. The Forum’s comments push back against the Commission’s proposal to mandate swing pricing for mutual funds as the rule would change how investors buy and sell mutual funds. The letter also highlights issues with the hard close, noting in the mutual fund space the “intermediary structure facilitates investors’ ability to make purchases or redemptions up until the market close” and tinkering with these expectations without a proven benefit, will confuse and harm mutual fund investors.

February 15, 2023

The Forum, in conjunction with Ernst & Young, plans to host a webinar entitled, “Tax Update: An Overview of Current Tax Landscape for the Fund Industry.” The webinar will provide post-election perspectives on the tax regulation landscape, as well as discuss recent tax developments and hot topics in the mutual fund industry.

February 14, 2023

The SEC recently issued a regulatory bulletin entitled, “Differential Advisory Fee Waivers" which is meant to “remind mutual funds, their boards of directors/trustees and their legal counsel about the implications under the Investment Company Act of 1940 of fee waiver and expense reimbursement arrangements that result in different advisory fees being charged to different share classes of the same fund.”