MFDF News Feed

April 12, 2023

Secretary Yellen noted that for regulators, “policy is not aimed at preventing external shocks nor eliminating all volatility,” but rather the goal of macroprudential policy is to “make the financial system more resilient to external shocks – so the system can dampen, not amplify, their consequences…” She noted there exists unfinished business in the banking, nonbank financial intermediation, private fund (specifically noting hedge funds), and digital assets sectors.

April 11, 2023

SEC Chair Gary Gensler's written testimony noted the Commission requested funds to grow division staff including those in the Exams Division, due to the growth of registered investment advisers (22% over five years), and a growth in private funds (50% over five years). Several Republicans expressed concern with the Commission’s proposed climate disclosure rules, while Democrats expressed support for increasing the Commission’s budget.

April 10, 2023

The ESG Guide makes suggestions such as who within the organization should participate in the ESG program and topics the ESG program should cover, as well as surveying the current state of regulation and likely near-term developments.

April 6, 2023

The program includes discussions surrounding new and proposed SEC rules, industry data requirements, sustainability rating structures, an update on ESG investing strategies, and oversight responsibilities for fund boards. The sessions will take place in the Smith Suite at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building in Washington, D.C., followed by a networking event in the evening.

April 5, 2023

Commissioner Mark Uyeda's remarks noted the blistering pace of rulemaking, and he went further to state, “[m]any of the Commission’s rulemaking proposals are interrelated and interconnected, yet these proposals are not evaluated pragmatically and holistically.” He also touched on the recent open-end fund proposals noting, “if registered investment companies are regulated to the extent that they are less desirable options for 401(k) and other retirement plans, collective investment trusts and other less regulated investment options may fill the gap.”

April 4, 2023

The discussion will focus on the impact of market performance and increased SEC scrutiny and rulemaking, and considerations for independent directors during the contract renewal process.

April 3, 2023

Director William Birdthistle's remarks focused on three key areas: technological advancement, changing demographics, and rapid growth. Notably, his remarks did not touch on the Commission’s open-end fund rule proposals or climate disclosure proposals pending before the Commission.

March 30, 2023

The report notes that “At present, 87 countries—representing more than 90 percent of global GDP—are exploring CBDCs.” McKinsey highlights several reasons for the recent spike in CBDC interest, including: Plummeting cash usage; Growing interest in privately issued digital assets; Decreasing sense of central banks as payments innovators; and, Rising global payment systems.

March 29, 2023

A House subcommittee recently examined several legislative measures that would allow retail investors new access to private markets as well as increasing capital access for smaller and emerging companies. Two notable legislative measures were discussed in these hearings, the “Increasing Investor Opportunities Act” and a bill that would permit a registered investment company to omit certain fees from the calculation of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.

March 28, 2023

The Commission states the reopening of the comment period “will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the issues and prepare comments in light of other regulatory developments, including whether there would be any effects of other Commission proposals related to cybersecurity risk management and disclosure that the Commission should consider.”

March 27, 2023

This month, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to block a Department of Labor (DOL) rule that allows ERISA-regulated fiduciaries greater flexibility and leeway to consider ESG factors and explicitly allows for the consideration of certain ESG factors that are financially relevant to an investment’s risk-return analysis. Biden exercised a presidential veto over the resolution on March 20.

March 23, 2023

The paper describes an improved way to measure fund manager skill by proposing company size should be broken into two sub-groups: big vs. mid-cap and mid-cap vs. small, rather than using only one size comparison. Dr. Stewart stated the technique he and his co-authors put forth impacts fund managers because it may “move you from being below average to above average, or vice versa.”

March 22, 2023

Biden's strategy calls for modernizing federal systems' cybersecurity defenses while also increasing offensive hacking capabilities in the intelligence community. The strategy builds off existing executive orders (National Security Strategy, Executive Order 14028, National Security Memorandum 5, and others) as well as legislative efforts on Capitol Hill.

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.