Catagory:Pensions and Retirement Funds

1
The SEC’s New Rules for Private Fund Advisers: A Dose of Transparency for the Private Markets
2
ICYMI: Integrity Council Launches Global Benchmark and Core Carbon Principles for Voluntary Carbon Markets
3
United States: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: The SEC Proposes Rules for the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers
4
United States: SEC’s Stunning Enforcement Actions Against Binance and Coinbase
5
Australia: Preparing for the Extension of the Superannuation Performance Test to Trustee-Directed Products
6
Australia: ASIC Releases Report on Recent Greenwashing Actions
7
Australia: ASIC Reports on DDO Compliance by Investment Product Issuers
8
United States: SEC Staff Finds Safeguarding Policies and Procedures Lacking at Branch Offices
9
APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 3: Separate Managed Accounts vs. Funds of One
10
APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 2: Managed Accounts vs. Commingled Funds

The SEC’s New Rules for Private Fund Advisers: A Dose of Transparency for the Private Markets

By: Ken Holston, TJ Bright, Pablo Man, Matthew Mangan, Chris Phillips-Hart, Annabelle North

On August 23, 2023, the SEC adopted sweeping new rules that will impose substantial regulation on the management and operation of private funds by investment advisers.  The rules appear to be somewhat less burdensome than the rules originally proposed in February 2022.  

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ICYMI: Integrity Council Launches Global Benchmark and Core Carbon Principles for Voluntary Carbon Markets

By: Cheryl Isaac and Christine Mikhael

In case you missed it: late last month, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (“ICVCM”) launched its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and Program-level Assessment Framework (Framework). With the publication of these new standards (developed with the input of hundreds of stakeholders in the voluntary carbon markets), we now have a set of fundamental principles for high-quality credits that create a verifiable climate impact, and a framework for determining whether carbon credit programs are eligible to label themselves as being in compliance with the CCPs.

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United States: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: The SEC Proposes Rules for the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers

By: Richard Kerr and Matthew Rogers

On July 26, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed new rules (“Proposal”) intended to address certain conflicts of interests associated with the use of “Covered Technology” (defined below) by broker-dealers and investment advisers (“firms”) in investor interactions. If adopted as proposed, firms will be required to (i) identify conflicts of interests when using Covered Technology in interactions with investors, and (ii) adopt policies and procedures to eliminate or neutralize those conflicts of interests.

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United States: SEC’s Stunning Enforcement Actions Against Binance and Coinbase

By Rich Kerr, Eden Rohrer, and Max Black

In a stunning move, over the last two days, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed back-to-back enforcement actions against major crypto exchanges Binance (See here) and Coinbase (See here). This clearly indicates that the SEC is flexing its enforcement power over both international exchanges as well as those exchanges with a focus on the United States. Please visit the K&L Gates Fintech and Blockchain Law Watch to see commentary about these developments from our Digital Assets team.

Australia: Preparing for the Extension of the Superannuation Performance Test to Trustee-Directed Products

By Jim Bulling and Grace Hall

The release of draft regulations by the Australian Government and publications by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) provide further guidance to regulated superannuation funds on how annual performance assessments (the performance test) will apply to trustee-directed products.

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Australia: ASIC Releases Report on Recent Greenwashing Actions

By Matthew Watts and Rebecca Mangos

The Australia Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has published a report on its regulatory interventions made between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2023 in relation to greenwashing concerns (which can be accessed here). The report covers ASIC’s issuance of greenwashing infringement notices during the period and its observed increase in representations made by listed companies, managed funds and superannuation funds on environmental, social and governance credentials.

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Australia: ASIC Reports on DDO Compliance by Investment Product Issuers

By Kane Barnett and Bernard Sia

On 3 May 2023 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released its review on compliance by investment product issuers of the Design and Distribution Obligations (DDOs). In ASIC’s view, there is still considerable room for improvement by product issuers.

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United States: SEC Staff Finds Safeguarding Policies and Procedures Lacking at Branch Offices

By: Keri Riemer and Brian Doyle-Wenger

On 26 April, 2023, shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rule amendments that would require broker-dealers and investment advisers (collectively, firms) to comply with enhanced compliance requirements relating to sensitive customer information, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (staff) issued a risk alert highlighting the need for firms to have written policies and procedures for safeguarding customer records and information at their branch offices.

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APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 3: Separate Managed Accounts vs. Funds of One

By Scott Peterman

In our last post, we itemized several incentives motivating many institutional investors to favor management of their investment assets in a separate managed account (SMA) or fund-of-one as opposed to investing those assets in a commingled fund. A key distinction between investing assets in an SMA or fund-of-one that is often overlooked is that the owner/investor in an SMA directly owns those investment assets. This is not true of an investor investing in a fund-of-one. In the latter, the fund owns those assets, not the investor. 

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APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 2: Managed Accounts vs. Commingled Funds

By Scott Peterman

In our last post, we suggested that managed accounts of whatever structure have become more and more popular among institutional investors. Our list included advantages of managed accounts often seen in print or discussed among panel participants in seminars. We did not, however, itemize all of the incentives motivating many institutional investors to prefer managed accounts over commingled funds. We’ll do so now to introduce and illuminate the reasons why and how conflicts of interest are created when fund managers manage separate client accounts alongside commingled funds. And, hopefully, give you some takeaways when managing your own investment management business.

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