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 information is contained in a related press release, fact sheet and proposing release.  Among other things, the new “safeguarding” rule would: significantly expand the scope of the types of client assets covered under the rule from ..read more

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 process by avoiding varied and often duplicative information requests. There is of course a potential upside for investors too, as they are more likely to receive comparable data across asset managers wh ..read more

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 2020, the DOL published a proposed rule (the “Proposal”) regarding an ERISA fiduciary’s duties with respect to shareholder rights. On December 16, 2020, the Department of Labor published the final regulation (the “Regulation”). Much like the Proposal ..read more

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. In this initiative, OCIE staff assessed, among other things, the advisers’ compliance and supervisory practices relating to advisory personnel working within the advisers’ branch offices. The following ..read more

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”), the DOL received several thousand comments, the vast majority of which opposed the new rule. Many plan sponsors and investment professionals voiced objection to the Proposal’s antipathy towards th ..read more

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 factors when making investment decisions, unless such factors are relevant to the plan’s pecuniary goals. Interest in ESG-themed investments has surged in popularity in recent years. One 2020 survey showed that ..read more

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 been eagerly been awaiting their release ever since.  The reason for the additional round of OMB review is unknown, although the move suggests that changes to the previously-reviewed regulations may be forthcoming prior to their r ..read more

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 Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). This blog discusses why the recent guidance is so significant and what it does and does not do. The information letter confirms that a plan fiduciary would not violate the fiduciary’s duty to act pru ..read more

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 or business development company registered under the Investment Company Act (each, a “fund”). Specifically, proposed rule 2a-5 would establish requirements in connection with the determination of fair value in good faith of fund investments for purposes of Section 2(a ..read more

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 advance information about the expected scope and content of the initial examinations for compliance with Reg. BI and Form CRS, both of which have an upcoming compliance date of June 30, 2020. A closer look at issues raised in these ris ..read more