Deregulatory Push Progresses; a Legislative Proposal Targets Fund Diversification Limit

President Trump recently signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which mainly benefits small and regional banks. The partial rollback of the Dodd-Frank Act also boosts custodial banks, including State Street and BNY Mellon, by allowing them to exclude client assets in calculating certain capital requirements, and modifies offering and proxy rule requirements for closed-end funds, among other measures, as summarized by Ropes & Gray lawyers. The deregulatory push continues, and hearings held on Capitol Hill last week included legislative proposals related to the fund industry, including a measure seeking to increase the investing threshold for mutual funds from ten percent of voting shares of a company to fifteen percent before triggering diversified fund limits. The purpose of that hearing was to examine eleven bills or discussion drafts of legislation to eliminate regulatory hurdles that harm the ability of “Main Street” businesses, early-stage companies, smaller companies and emerging growth companies to access capital, innovate, grow and create jobs, according to a House memo. Meanwhile, a report in InvestmentNews tallies the benefits of tax reform for major fund companies.