On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule for registered investment advisers that would replace the current “custody rule” under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) with a new “safeguarding rule”[1] and make corresponding amendments to the Adviser Act’s recordkeeping rule and Form ADV.
Additional
The Loan Market Association (LMA), the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) and the European Leveraged Finance Association (ELFA) have published an ESG questionnaire which they hope will be an industry standard for investors undertaking ESG due diligence on prospective and incumbent asset managers.
The publishing associations hope that this will simplify the due diligence
The longstanding view of the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) has been that proxy voting and other shareholder rights held by an ERISA plan are subject to ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty. Previously, this view was expressed by the DOL in sub-regulatory guidance, such as interpretive and field assistance bulletins. In September of
On November 9, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published a risk alert discussing its observations from a series of examinations that focused on SEC-registered investment advisers operating from numerous branch offices and with operations geographically dispersed from the adviser’s principal or main office.
On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its final regulation (“Final Rule”) relating to a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors when making investment decisions for plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). In response to the proposed rule (the “Proposal”),
On June 22, 2020, the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) submitted a proposed regulation (the “Proposal”) regarding the use of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) factors in selecting investments for plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). The Proposal generally cautions plan fiduciaries against considering ESG
On June 2, 2020, the long-awaited carried interest proposed regulations were returned to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a second round of review. The OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) previously completed its review of the proposed regulations on February 27, 2020 and the funds and alternative investments industry has
The Department of Labor’s recent pronouncement on the permissibility of investing 401(k) and other defined contribution plan assets in private equity has gotten wide-spread attention. Yet the guidance, which was issued in the form of an information letter, does not establish any new fiduciary principles, or provide any exemptions under the Employee Retirement Income Security
On April 21, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), which is intended to address valuation practices and the role of the board of directors with respect to the fair value of the investments of an investment company
On April 7, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued two companion risk alerts on compliance with Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS. In the press release accompanying these risk alerts, OCIE stated that these alerts are intended to provide broker-dealers and investment advisers with
