Exploring the legal and regulatory issues affecting the worldwide asset management community.
By Thoreau A. Bartmann, Lance C. Dial, and Sarah V. Riddell
The SEC and its staff continue their efforts to clarify the somewhat murky regulatory environment for crypto assets. On Friday, 25 September 2026, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued new FAQs on its March Taxonomy (the “Crypto FAQs”).
Read MoreBy Thoreau A. Bartmann, Sasha Burstein, Lance C. Dial, Pablo J. Man, and George Zornada
On 28 September 2026, the Chief Accountant and the Director of the Division of Investment Management issued a joint statement on fair valuation of private assets (the “Statement”). On its face, it doesn’t break much ground, as it mostly restates existing guidance. However, the most important thing about this statement may be that it was issued at all. With this statement, the underlying message is clear: the SEC staff is looking for robust valuation policies and procedures coupled with material disclosures.
Read MoreBy Tamika Bent, Timothy Foley, Sarah Riddell, and Sanjeev Bhasker
The SEC and CFTC have separately granted relief for the advancement of crypto-based trading infrastructure in US markets, in an apparent direct response to Congress’s stalled efforts to move the CLARITY Act forward.
Read MoreBy Jon Luc Dupuy and Timothy Foley
The SEC is proposing to substantively overhaul the securities transfer agent regulatory framework, which has largely remained unchanged since the paperwork-based system of the mid-1970s. Since this time, modern-day transfer agent operations have expanded in scope and complexity, outpacing rules mainly established prior to the advent of the Internet. Many of the SEC’s proposed changes are designed to technologically neutralize the rules for adaptation to the modern environment, including utilization of distributed ledger technology. However, there are several changes that fund advisers and their transfer agents should specifically note:
Read MoreBy: Thoreau A. Bartmann, Lance C. Dial, Jennifer L. Klass, and Pablo J. Man
Sometimes, people like to give money to other people. Sometimes, those other people are politicians. Sometimes those politicians are officials of government entities whose funds investment advisers manage in exchange for compensation. There are lots of reasons someone would give money to politicians, but, over the last almost-sixteen years the SEC made it challenging for employees of investment advisers to give politicians money. Today the SEC has just proposed to undo that.
Read MoreThoreau A. Bartmann, Tamika P. Bent, Sanjeev Bhasker, Todd S. Fishman, Sarah V. Riddell, and Andrew M. Wright
During the first part of 2026, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or the Commission) has undertaken a sweeping campaign to protect its asserted exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets—the markets on which event contracts are traded. This effort includes a set of wide-ranging public remarks by its new chairman outlining a broad regulatory program, a set of lawsuits and case filings across the country, and a series of administrative measures, including proposed rulemakings.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight and Jocelyn Lau
The Government has announced reforms to strengthen consumer protections and the resilience of the superannuation and financial system. These changes are being made in response to high profile investment failures but may lead to increased compliance costs for providers.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight and Jocelyn Lau
ASIC has announced that it will increase the net tangible assets (NTA) requirement for responsible entities of registered managed investment schemes (MIS), operators of investor directed portfolio services (IDPS) and corporate directors of retail corporate collective investment vehicles (CCIVs). The changes are set to commence on 1 July 2027.
Read MoreBy: Thoreau Bartmann and Marguerite Laurent
Key Takeaways
On 4 August 2026 the SEC deleted two long dead requirements from its rulebook. SEC.gov | Investment Company Governance Technical Amendments. Specifically, the SEC deleted a requirement that 75% of a fund board be independent and that the board chair be independent, both provisions that had been struck down by a court in 2006, yet were still in the rulebook twenty years later.
Read MoreBy: Thoreau A. Bartmann and Jennifer L. Klass
On 16 July 2026, the SEC proposed Regulation E-Delivery, a new rule that would make e-delivery the default for how investors receive regulatory information under the federal securities laws. Today, most required information arrives on paper unless the recipient affirmatively consents to electronic delivery. Reg E-Delivery would supersede decades of interpretive guidance built around notice, access, and evidence of delivery, reaching nearly all registrants with a delivery obligation—including advisers, registered funds, broker-dealers, and issuers—and covering nearly all required communications.
Importantly, the rule is optional. It functions as a safe harbor: firms satisfying its conditions are deemed to have fulfilled their delivery obligations, but the rule is not the exclusive means of offering e-delivery.
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