SEC Regulatory Agenda April 2000

SEC Regulatory Agenda Announced

Aircraft Carrier Release, Investment Advisor-Client Transactions, Revised Shareholder Reports…

By John M. Baker, Esq.

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The SEC, like other Federal agencies, published its semiannual regulatory agenda in the Federal Register on Monday. 65 Fed. Reg. 23938 (Apr. 24, 2000).

The agenda updates SEC plans on a number of regulatory initiatives as of March 2, 2000. The initiatives include the following:

The Division of Corporation Finance says it will recommend that the SEC repropose all or parts of the Aircraft Carrier initiative to reflect public comment, with a target reproposal date of July 2000. It may perhaps be unnecessary to point out that all these target dates should be taken with a grain of salt. There have also been rumors that the initiative may be dropped altogether, and Commissioner Hunt said in his April 13 speech that Aircraft Carrier may not be moving forward.

The Division of Investment Finance is considering recommending that the SEC revise the conditions under which investment advisers may enter into principal transactions with their clients. The target date for the notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) is April 2000, although it would take fast work to meet that target at this point.

Investment Management is also considering whether to recommend that the SEC propose revisions to the shareholder report and financial statement requirements for investment companies to improve the quality of updates and simplify investment company financial statement presentation. The NPRM target date is October 2000.

Investment Management also is considering whether to recommend that the SEC propose to amend Rule 482, to permit advertisements that are not subject to restrictions limiting the content to information “the substance of which” is in a fund’s prospectus, and to amend Rule 134 to rescind provisions that apply only to investment companies. The NPRM target date is June 2000.

For rule initiatives in the final rule stage, there are target dates for a number of initiatives:

• Proposed Rule 206(4)-5, which would restrict political contributions by investment advisers: April 2000. Investment company independent director proposals: June 2000.
• Proposed Rule 202(1)(11)-1, exempting certain broker-dealers from the definition of investment adviser: April 2000. Investment company name requirements: November 2000.
• Proposed Rule 17f-7, governing the maintenance of investment company assets with foreign securities depositories: May 2000 (expected imminently).
• Regulation S-P: May 12, 2000 (statutory).

As with other Federal Register documents, the regulatory agenda is available online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html

 

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Copyright 2000, John M. Baker, Esq., Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, LLP, 1220 19th Street, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036 – (202) 822-9611- Fax (202) 822-0140 This article was originally posted to the FundLaw List, http://www.egroups.com/group/fundlaw. To subscribe to FundLaw, send a blank e-mail to fundlaw-subscribe@egroups.com

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Nothing herein is intended as legal or financial advice. The law is different in different jurisdictions, and the facts of a particular matter can change the application of the law. Please consult an attorney or your financial advisor before acting upon the information contained in this article.  

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Mark J. Astarita, Esq. is a securities lawyer who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters across the country. He is a partner in the national securities law firm of Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC and can be reached by email at mja@sallahlaw.com or by phone at 212-509-6544.

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