CCO Resource Center: 12b-1 Policies and Procedures
Chief Compliance Officer Committee
12b-1 Policies and Procedures
In January 2016, the SEC’s Division of Investment Management published IM Guidance Update No. 2016-01 relating to Mutual Fund Distribution and Subaccounting Fees, which is available at https://www.sec.gov/investment/im-guidance-2016-01.pdf. This Guidance, for the first time, expressed the view of the SEC staff that all mutual funds – without regard to whether they have a 12b-1 plan – should include provisions governing compliance with Rule 12b-1 in their Rule 38a-1 compliance policies and procedures. In response to this Guidance, the members of the CCO Committee were asked to share with the ICI the policies and procedures they were developing relating to Rule 12b-1. The Institute has compiled the policies and procedures we received and grouped them according to whether the fund has, or does not have, a 12b-1 plan. We have made every effort to redact any identifying or proprietary information from these documents. We apologize in advance if we failed to completely redact such information. Please do not share this document with anyone outside of your member firm. As additional members of the Committee adopt compliance policies and procedures relating to Rule 12b-1, we will add them to this compilation.
The documentation provided by ICI that may be accessed by committee and task force members is restricted to members use only and not for distribution or reproduction. Documentation may be used internally at member organizations as needed to facilitate committee and task force initiatives.