As part of its rulemaking process, the SEC has released its regulatory agenda indicating it will focus on reviewing certain proposed rules. However, despite the many rules proposed over the last year, the SEC’s number of rules to review is likely much narrower for a few reasons, explains FrontLine’s Founder and President Amy Lynch. She states that the list of proposed rules is much shorter now as many previously proposed rules have moved to the finalization stage and few new proposed rules have been added. Ms. Lynch sees only two proposed rules moving forward in the near term – the Custody Rule for advisers and the rule to add greater oversight of SPACs. She describes both as having hot button issues in the asset management space with the SEC more likely to implement rule changes that reflect recent unofficial guidance. According to Ms. Lynch, other proposed rules are deemed very controversial, such as those on private fund rule changes, ESG, and digital engagement practices. The SEC’s Division of Investment Management, Division of Trading and Markets, and Division of Exams should be very busy trying to navigate rules in these three areas to ultimately be acceptable to the industry. See ThinkAdvisor, “Five Rules the SEC Plans to Review This Year“
For the complete list of the rules, see the Securities and Exchange Commission, “Agency Rule List – Spring 2022”
