By: Andrew Massey and Philip Morgan
The FCA has published its final rules on the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime. The key features include:
Read MoreBy: Andrew Massey and Philip Morgan
Following their adoption and publication in draft form by the European Commission last June, two new EU Taxonomy delegated acts were published in the Official Journal on 21 November, and will apply from January 2024. They confirm new and amended technical screening criteria (TSCs) in relation to the environmental objectives in the Taxonomy Regulation. This is a significant build-out in the application of the Taxonomy Regulation given that for an economic activity to be taxonomy-aligned, it must:
Read MoreBy: Andrew Massey and Philip Morgan
On 25 August 2023, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed a Massachusetts Superior Court ruling and denied Robinhood Financial LLC’s attempt to block the implementation of Massachusetts’s unique fiduciary duty rule, adopted in February 2020 within weeks of the final adoption of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest, which imposes the duties of care and loyalty on broker-dealers (Fiduciary Rule). A summary of the Fiduciary Rule is available here. Robinhood’s action to overturn the Rule was brought after the Commonwealth of Massachusetts brought an administrative action accusing Robinhood of violating Fiduciary Rule with its video game-like design and marketing tactics.
Read MoreBy: Andrew Massey and Philip Morgan
At the Conference On Emerging Trends In Asset Management sponsored by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and held 19 May 2023, Chair Gary Gensler, and Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, William Birdthistle, called for greater discourse with industry participants and highlighted the strengths of recent rulemaking activities of the SEC.
Mr. Birdthistle kicked off the conference by referring to funds and investment advisers as “critical agents” in the investment management industry and in advancing the SEC’s mission. He also acknowledged the need for the SEC and its staff to be open to different opinions. He did not, however, indicate how such different views have been—or would be—addressed in the rulemaking process or otherwise.
Read MoreNon-transparent exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are struggling to fit in digital advertisements the specific risk legend set forth in their exemptive orders (Exemptive Order Risk Legends) may be in luck. On 29 March 2023, the staff (Staff) of the Division of Investment Management of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement (Statement) requesting that non-transparent ETFs use in such ads either (i) the text and formatting of their Exemptive Order Risk Legends; or (ii) the following text and formatting (with bold as shown and without bullets) (the Staff Risk Legend):
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