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Today [February 9], the Commission is considering rules and amendments under the Investment Advisers Act to improve the efficiency, competition, and transparency of the activities of private funds’ advisers. I support this proposal because, if adopted, it would help investors
Securities Regulation
SEC Commissioner Peirce Speaks on Private Fund Advisers Proposal
Today’s [February 9] proposal represents a sea change. It embodies a belief that many sophisticated institutions and high net worth individuals are not competent or assertive enough to obtain and analyze the information they need to make good investment decisions
SEC Commissioner Crenshaw Speaks on Private Fund Advisers Proposal
Investment advisers are their clients’ fiduciaries. This means that investment advisers are legally obligated to serve their client’s best interest.[1] This standard of conduct is not an aspirational goal. It must be meaningful and offer the real protections investors
What ESG-Related Disclosures Should the SEC Mandate?
The Financial Economist Roundtable (“FER”) met in July 2021 to discuss current efforts to measure and require disclosure of firms’ ESG activities.[1] The views of individual FER members about specific issues often differ, but the consensus was that financial …
SEC Chair Gensler Speaks to FSOC on Money Market Funds, Open-End Bond Funds, and Hedge Funds
Thank you, Secretary Yellen, for focusing the Council’s attention on financial resiliency with regard to three key parts of our capital markets — particularly money market funds, open-end bond funds, and hedge funds.
The fund industry gives retail and institutional
Davis Polk Discusses Developments in Regulation Related to Private Equity
Rules and regulations
SEC proposes amendments to bolster private fund reporting
On January 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to propose certain amendments to Form PF designed to facilitate the SEC’s oversight of private fund advisers and …
Do Firms Redact Information from Material Contracts to Conceal Bad News?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates and monitors companies to increase transparency and protect investors. The securities laws consider the companies’ interests and allow them to make requests to redact certain information in SEC filings and not publicly disclose …
Skadden Discusses How New SEC Standards May Prompt Rise in Climate-Related Securities Suits
In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided public companies with interpretive guidance on existing SEC disclosure requirements as they applied to climate change developments. The guidance did not alter disclosure requirements but suggested that, under the existing framework, …
Karmel’s Dissent: The SEC’s Use and Occasional Misuse of Reports of Investigation
A small number of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) end with the filing of a report rather than a complaint or administrative order. Section 21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 authorizes the SEC “to publish …
Fintech SPACs Have Been Swimming Naked – and the Tide Is Going Out
Acorns Grow Inc., the financial technology and investing startup, said last week that it was abandoning its $2.2 billion merger with SPAC Pioneer Merger Corp., putting itself on the hook for a $17.5 million termination fee. Coming almost eight months …
SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Rules Covering Government Securities Alternative Trading Systems
Today [January 26], the Commission is considering amendments to include significant Treasury markets platforms within Regulation ATS. I support these amendments because, if adopted, they would help promote resiliency and greater access in the Treasury market. We’re also considering modernizing
SEC Commissioner Peirce Dissents on Proposal to Amend Regulation ATS
Events in the U.S. Treasury market (as well as the related repo market) over the past several years strongly suggest that the market for government securities suffers from inadequate levels of intermediation, liquidity, and transparency that in times of stress
Do Companies Lobby Against Mandatory Disclosure to Protect Proprietary Information?
Critics of mandatory public disclosure often argue that it may put disclosing firms at a competitive disadvantage by requiring them to reveal potentially proprietary information to rivals. For instance, when the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed to mandate more …
SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Cybersecurity and Securities Laws
Thank you. It’s good to be with the Annual Securities Regulation Institute. As is customary, I’d like to note that my remarks are my own, and I’m not speaking on behalf of the Commission or SEC staff.
As some of
Climate-Risk Disclosures and “Dirty Energy” Transfers: “Progress” Through Evasion
At first glance, recent progress towards transparency in corporate climate-risk disclosures seems exceptional. Over 2,000 companies now publish annual reports showing their carbon emissions data (although most self-interestedly omit Scope 3 data). Many (including most recently ExxonMobil) have made a …
Latham & Watkins Discusses Stricter SEC Requirements for the Rule 10b5-1 Affirmative Defense
On December 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a set of proposed amendments (the Proposal) regarding the adoption of trading plans that qualify for the affirmative defense against liability for trading on the basis of material non-public …
SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on How to Make Securities Regulation Dynamic
Thank you for the kind introduction. As is customary, I’d like to note that my views are my own, and I’m not speaking on behalf of the Commission or SEC staff.
I’d like to share with you all that we
It’s Time to Regulate Stablecoins as Deposits and Require Their Issuers to Be FDIC-Insured Banks
In November 2021, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) issued a report analyzing the rapid expansion and growing risks of the stablecoin market.[1] Stablecoins are digital assets that claim to maintain a “stable” value with reference to …
Informed Options Trading Before FDA Approves Drugs May Be Growing Problem
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appoints drug experts to drug advisory committees (ACs) that make approval or rejection recommendations for about half of all new drugs (usually the unique ones, such as Covid vaccines). The experts receive nonpublic technical …
Mandatory Corporate Climate Disclosures: Now, but How?
Climate change is one of today’s most salient policy challenges. Under the Paris Agreement, 195 governments agreed to limit temperature increases to well below 2, preferably 1.5, degrees centigrade relative to pre-industrial levels. Since the magnitude of global warming is …