MFDF News Feed

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.

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.