On January 19, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a new request for information (RFI) soliciting public input to develop a record as it reviews the effectiveness of existing reporting and disclosure requirements for retirement plans, as required by the SECURE 2.0 Act. The...
On November 27, 2023, IRS and Treasury published proposed rules for the treatment of long-term part-time employees under 401(k) plans, pursuant to the SECURE Act and the SECURE 2.0 Act.
This attached draft memorandum for your review summarizes an approach for addressing tax issues that would arise if a stable-NAV money market fund used the reverse distribution mechanism (RDM) in a negative yield environment. RDM allows a fund to prevent NAV declines attributable to...
ICI submitted a comment on IRS Draft Form 7208 (Excise Tax on Repurchase of Corporate Stock) requesting that regulated investment companies (RICs) be exempt from filing the form as Internal Revenue Code section 4501(e)(5) expressly excludes RICs from the excise tax on repurchases of...
On January 19, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a notice to solicit comments on proposed rule changes filed, pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 19b-4, by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) to...
The staff of the SEC's Division of Investment Management recently provided its views that exchange-traded funds must disclose their foreign currency holdings fully and transparently on their websites each day. The disclosure should enable market participants to effectively arbitrage...
[35589] January 21, 2024 TO: Broker/Dealer Advisory Committee Investment Adviser and Broker-Dealer Standards of Conduct Working Group Investment Advisers Committee Retail SMA Advisory Committee SEC Rules Committee SUBJECTS: Advertising Compensation/Remuneration Compliance Disclosure...
On December 20, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2024-02 (the "Notice"), the long awaited "grab bag" guidance, in Q&A format, on various issues related to the SECURE 2.0 Act changes to the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"). As a reminder, ICI submitted a letter...
ICI has filed the attached comment letter on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's (MSRB) proposed rule amendment to require dealers effecting municipal securities transactions subject to the T+1 settlement cycle to (1) enter into written agreements with "relevant parties" to...
ICI has filed two letters in response to the joint notice of proposed rulemaking issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the Agencies) to amend the...
On January 17, 2024, Investment Company Institute (ICI) submitted comments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding its proposed amendments to Regulation 1.25 under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which specifies permitted investments ("Permitted Investments") by...
As we previously reported, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has proposed a rule amendment to promote the allocation, confirmation, affirmation (or any combination) of municipal securities transactions as soon as technologically practicable on a same-day basis. The MSRB...
The SEC has announced its settlement of an enforcement action against a dually-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser for violations of a Whistleblower rule under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 2F-17(a). This rule prohibits any SEC registrant from taking any action...
Attached for your review is a draft letter with recommendations to address the global regulated fund industry's outstanding tax issues, in priority order for consideration in India's 2024 Union Budget. Below are the specific recommendations, many of which have been raised in prior ICI...
In late December of 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comment on whether, and if so, how, it should revise its policy on providing blanket authorizations for investment companies under section 203(a)(2) of the Federal Power...
On December 5, 2023, Judge Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) issued an Order granting summary judgement to Saba Capital Management, L.P. ("Saba"), declaring that the control share resolutions adopted by the defendant closed-end...
On December 20, 2023, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) each published final reports on liquidity risk management in open-ended funds (OEFs), following their respective July 2023 consultations on the subject.
On December 15, 2023, the SEC issued a staff report on the accredited investor definition. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") directs the SEC to undertake a review of the accredited investor definition at least once every four years to...
On December 21, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) proposed, via a rule filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), amendments to MSRB Rule G-12 to require dealers effecting municipal securities transactions that are subject to the T+1 settlement cycle to (1)...
Last month, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC and collectively, Agencies) issued a statement extending previously issued no-action relief under Regulation O.[1] The no-action relief...
On December 14, 2023, the ESG Data and Ratings Working Group (DRWG), convened by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), finalized the voluntary code of conduct for ESG ratings and data providers. The FCA welcomed the launch of the code of conduct, noting that the code of conduct...
On January 2, 2024, ICI submitted a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) commenting on its recent regulatory package on fiduciary investment advice ("Proposal"). The Proposal includes proposed amendments to the regulation defining who is a "fiduciary" under section 3(21) of ERISA...
On November 3, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or "Commission") issued proposed amendments ("Proposal") to its rules governing the safeguarding and investment of funds deposited by customers to margin futures, foreign futures, and cleared swap transactions ("Customer...
The IRS issued Notice 2024-11, updating the list of US tax treaties (Notice 2011-64) that meet the requirements of section 1(h)(11)(C)(i)(II) for obtaining reduced capital gains rates on some dividend payments.
Linked below is the comment letter that ICI filed today with the SEC, which expresses serious concerns with how the SEC's proposed amendments to the liquidity rule would affect mutual funds and ETFs investing in bank loans. This letter elaborates on points made about bank loan funds...
