Statement On The Investment Adviser Marketing Final Rule, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, Dec. 22, 2020 Date
22/12/2020
Having qualified for its AARP card nearly a decade ago, the advertising rule was long overdue for amendment. Rule 206(4)-1 takes positive steps toward aligning how investment advisers will be able to advertise with modern means of communication and, more importantly, with how today’s investor takes in information when deciding how to invest and with whom.
An important goal of this rulemaking was to create a regulatory framework flexible enough to accommodate the dynamism of technology. The definition of advertisement no longer references “any notice, circular, letter or other written communication … or any notice or other announcement in any publication or by radio or television.”[1] Score one for the digital revolution.
Investment Adviser Marketing - Past Proposals Are Not Necessarily Indicative Of Future Adoptions, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw, Dec. 22, 2020 Date
22/12/2020
Last year, the Commission unanimously supported a recommendation from our expert staff to modernize the Commission’s regulatory framework for investment adviser marketing.[1] While there are many elements of today’s final rule that reflect improvements to the outdated and patchwork advertising regime,[2] there are also numerous provisions and guidance throughout the Release that retreat from commonsense elements that we proposed last year. Thus, today’s unanimous vote does not reflect a consensus about how best to protect investors from the risks of misleading adviser marketing, but rather our support of many of the rule’s provisions coupled with a concern that the final rule not shift even further from the wisdom of the proposal.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington D.C., Dec. 22, 2020
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it had finalized reforms under the Investment Advisers Act to modernize rules that govern investment adviser advertisements and payments to solicitors. The amendments create a single rule that replaces the current advertising and cash solicitation rules. The final rule is designed to comprehensively and efficiently regulate investment advisers’ marketing communications.
In the decades since the adoption of the current rules, advertising and referral practices have evolved. The technology used for communications has advanced, the expectations of investors seeking advisory services have changed, and the profiles of the investment advisory industry have diversified. The new marketing rule recognizes these changes and the Commission’s experience administering the current rules. The reforms will allow advisers to provide investors with useful information
Under Director Blass s Leadership, the Division Undertook Numerous Initiatives Benefitting Main Street Investors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington D.C., Dec. 22, 2020
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Dalia Blass, Director of the Division of Investment Management, will depart the SEC in January after leading the Division since September 2017. Under her leadership, the Division finalized more than 70 regulatory initiatives affecting investment companies and investment advisers.
The Division of Investment Management s work is critical to ensuring that America s Main Street investors have access to high-quality investment opportunities from which they can make well-informed investing decisions. It has primary responsibility for administering the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advises Act of 1940, which includes overseeing investment companies (e.g., mutual funds, closed-end funds, business development companies, unit
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
On December 15, the FDIC approved a final rule to revise and modernize its regulations relating to brokered deposits. The final rule establishes a new framework for analyzing whether deposits made through deposit arrangements qualify as brokered deposits, including those between insured depository institutions (IDIs) and third parties, such as financial technology companies. Specifically, the final rule:
Clarifies when a person meets the deposit broker definition in a way that provides clear rules by which banks and third parties can evaluate whether particular activities cause deposits to be considered brokered;
Identifies a number of bright-line categories (called “designated exceptions” which include deposits where the agent has less than 25% of the total “assets under administration” for its customers; health savings accounts; deposits related to certain real estate and mortgage servicing transactions; certain retirement funds; and customer fund