MFDF News Feed

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.”

February 13, 2023

Federal Reserve Board staff offer their views in an article titled, “New Insights from N-CEN: Liquidity Management at Open-End Funds and Primary Market Concentration of ETFs” which sources data on mutual funds, ETFs, and money market funds through Form N-CEN, to determine which liquidity tools these fund types take advantage of.

February 9, 2023

EC Commissioner Mark Uyeda delivered remarks entitled “ESG: Everything Everywhere All at Once” highlighting the growth and areas of concern within ESG investing. Commissioner Uyeda’s noted that “regulators, industry participants, and investors have struggled to define ‘ESG,’” but he posits that existing regulatory structures already exist for ensuring investment advisers fully describe and follow the strategies they utilize.

February 8, 2023

Davis Polk recently released the “Financial Services Regulatory Reform: Winter Forecast Edition” which includes a look at the financial regulatory landscape across a number of topics and agencies including the Federal Reserve, the SEC, and Treasury, among others. Regarding securities market structure, the report summarizes the recent SEC proposals covering market structure, trading in US Treasurys, and potential changes to the settlement cycle.

February 7, 2023

The statement highlights key risks associated with digital assets implemented using cryptographic techniques, as well as the crypto-asset sector more broadly, that the prudential regulators believe banking organizations should consider. The regulators’ warn that “the agencies believe that issuing or holding as principal crypto-assets that are issued, stored, or transferred on an open, public, and/or decentralized network, or similar system is highly likely to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices.”

February 6, 2023

Ropes & Gray plans to host a webinar entitled, “Creating a Culture of Compliance” which will discuss ways compliance professionals can make their programs more effective and efficient. As entities continue to build out their compliance programs, “ticking the box” with policies, procedures and training sessions is not enough to meet regulatory scrutiny.

February 2, 2023

ASC Advisors, Seward & Kissel, and PRI plan to host a webinar titled “ESG & Alternative Investment Managers – 360 Degree View" which will cover political trends, best practices, and solutions for those navigating the topic of ESG in the current market environment.

February 1, 2023

The Federal Reserve Board released details on a “Pilot Climate Scenario Analysis” (CSA) to learn how the six largest US banking institutions are managing the risks posed by climate change. The data collected will “enhance the ability of both large banking organizations and supervisors to identify, measure, monitor, and manage climate-related financial risks.”

January 31, 2023

The SEC’s swing pricing proposal would mandate swing pricing for most open-end funds (excluding money market funds and ETFs). The program will provide an overview of the SEC's proposal on swing pricing and liquidity and its potential impact to the mutual fund industry.

January 30, 2023

The post notes that boards are hearing more about work-force related matters such as “culture, purpose, hybrid work, the future of work, well-being, skills gaps, automation, and shifting societal expectations, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).” As the post notes, aside from the regulatory scrutiny “institutional investors continue to advocate for corporate actions ahead of regulatory requirements.”

January 26, 2023

The alert highlights how the fact pattern of the GSAM case varied slightly from the BNY Mellon order the SEC announced last May, but emphasizes the SEC is proactively looking at “all statements made about an adviser’s ESG strategy and is willing to bring enforcement actions regarding any perceived gaps between communications to investors/clients on ESG, an adviser’s ESG compliance policies and procedures and the adviser’s actual ESG investment process.”

January 25, 2023

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to leaders on Capitol Hill announcing the commencement of “extraordinary measures” to delay the federal government’s default on its debt. The “extraordinary measures” the Treasury Department has taken will likely last into the summer which gives congressional leaders a runway to reach a deal.

January 24, 2023

ACA published the December 2022 Regulatory Update which covers the SEC’s Division of Enforcement’s 2022 annual report. On mutual funds, the report breaks down recent changes to proxy voting disclosures required by registered funds and institutional investment managers, as well as amending the disclosure in annual and semi-annual shareholder reports issued by open-end funds and ETFs.

January 23, 2023

K&L Gates plans to host a webinar titled “Crypto: What You Should Be Considering" which will examine how digital assets and blockchain technology are and might be used in the asset management industry, key risks to consider, and what’s in store for 2023.

January 19, 2023

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed four new rules that would make significant changes to Regulation Best Execution, order competition and auctions, order execution disclosure, tick size and maker-taker fee caps. At the same open meeting, the Commission also adopted amendments to Rule 10b5-1 for permissible insider trading plans, adding conditions to affirmative defenses and creating new disclosure requirements.

January 18, 2023

Akin Gump released its December edition of CryptoLink, a newsletter that touches on key regulatory developments, enforcement actions, and other resources in the cryptocurrency space.

January 17, 2023

The SEC recently released an update to its Regulatory Flex Agenda which includes information on timelines for final rules covering climate change, the Names Rule, and money market fund reforms, among others. The release notes anticipated dates for final rule releases, but these dates are not deadlines.