MFDF News Feed

October 2, 2024

Macquarie settled the charges and will pay over $79 million in penalties, disgorgement, and pre-trial interest. Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office noted that “utilizing a third-party pricing service does not negate an investment adviser’s obligation to value assets accurately.”

October 1, 2024

During this session, Hubbard Garber and Jeffrey Christian will focus their insights for ETF board directors on a range of new products, drivers of strategy, and how to best think about peers.

September 30, 2024

Ward and Ira will discuss active ETFs relative to mutual funds, why the active ETF market is growing, the portfolio management mechanics of active ETFs, distribution of active ETFs, key questions boards should ask as well as a few common questions they tend to hear on ETFs.

September 27, 2024

Part 1 of the 15(c) White Paper provides a concise and comprehensive background of regulatory requirements and judicial caselaw relating to the 15(c) process.

September 26, 2024

The program will discuss the requirements fund directors must assess when analyzing whether to approve a fund’s advisory agreement.

September 25, 2024

Reportedly, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has disbanded the “Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force” created in March 2021. The Task Force brought actions against a variety of financial entities, including BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, for omissions and failure to follow established policies and procedures related to ESG investments.

September 24, 2024

In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the two Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) proposed audit standards as well as an amendment to PCAOB’s contributory liability rule.

September 23, 2024

The hearing focused on the role proxy advisory firms play in making recommendations to shareholders on ESG-based policies. At the opening of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga (R-MI) noted proxy advisory firms’ “heightened influence is increasingly concerning when considering the fact that the two largest proxy advisory firms control an estimated 97 percent of the market.”

September 19, 2024

The letter urged Treasury to take a “sectorial” approach that “ensures primary regulators, who understand their respective markets and AI use cases within those markets, retain the regulatory authority to proceed in a technology-neutral manner.”

September 18, 2024

Drawing from the expertise of fund directors who have incorporated skills matrices, this report includes common elements seen on fund board matrices, questions for consideration, and possible formatting approaches, among other guidance for each stage of the process.

September 17, 2024

The alert notes interesting developments in the areas of crypto, activist short selling, and cybersecurity. According to the client alert, the Court’s rejection of this application of Section 13(b)(2)(B) to cybersecurity may force the Commission to rethink its attempt to expand the scope of the internal accounting control provision.

September 16, 2024

The program will focus on the new product development process through the eyes of a portfolio manager. This program is intended to be an ‘intermediate’ level webinar and is part of MFDF’s ETF series.

September 12, 2024

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged six nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs) with recordkeeping failures by the entities and employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The combined civil penalties total over $49 million for violations of Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 17g-2(b)(7) which, in part, requires a NRSRO to make and retain complete and current books and records.

September 11, 2024

September 10, 2024

The program will cover how the latest Supreme Court decisions related to the Chevron Doctrine, Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), and agency administrative proceedings may impact the fund industry and government agencies.

September 9, 2024

The report addresses factors affecting committee structure; committee assignments and rotations; committee leadership assignments; and rotations; and views on creating efficient committees.

September 5, 2024

In this final section of the Director Onboarding Series, we will discuss creating onboarding education that sticks. The techniques described here reduce the content, spread it out over time, and/or establish a method by which directors can get another pass at the information after having earned additional context through participation in a meeting cycle.

September 4, 2024

The program will focus on an SEC rulemaking update, Advisers Act updates, and US Treasury clearing rules, among other topics. The program will feature several partners and other members of the Morgan Lewis financial services regulatory practice.

September 3, 2024

In addition to its failure to disclose material conflicts of interest associated with its receipt of revenue sharing payments, the settlement also stated that Cadaret breached its duty of care in connection with its role in recommending and selecting cash sweep options and NTF share classes for its clients.

August 29, 2024

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to adopt amendments to reporting requirements on Form N-PORT (portfolio holdings) and Form N-CEN. The original proposal included a swing pricing mandate for open-end mutual funds, implementation of a ‘hard close’ requirement, and the removal of the “less liquid investment” liquidity bucket. After industry-wide pushback, as well as bipartisan opposition from Capitol Hill, none of these controversial proposals were adopted in the finalized amendments.