On June 22, 2022, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs—part of the Office of Management and Budget, within the Executive Office—released the Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, reporting on potential rulemaking topics that administrative agencies, including the SEC, will consider in the short and long term, including several areas of interest to funds and investment advisers, with topics categorized as in the “proposed rule stage” or “final rule stage.”

Notable New Items: Fund Fee Disclosure and Reform; Digital Engagement Practices

Notably, new to the SEC’s regulatory agenda and categorized in the proposed rule stage is an item titled “Fund Fee Disclosure and Reform” concerning the consideration of potential changes to the regulatory requirements relating to registered investment companies’ fees and fee disclosure. Also identified as new to the agenda are digital engagement practices for investment advisers and broker-dealers, indicating that the Division of Investment Management is considering recommending that the SEC propose rules related to “the use of predictive data analytics, differential marketing and behavioral prompts.”

Recent Regulatory Developments

Other items listed in the agenda reflect recent regulatory developments that have garnered considerable attention in the asset management industry, such as recently proposed rules relating to funds and investment advisers to address matters relating to environmental, social and governance factors, proposed amendments to the fund names rule and the SEC’s request for comment on the role of certain third-party information service providers and their potential treatment as investment advisers.

Additional Items of Note

Additional items of note included in the regulatory agenda are potential new or amended rules concerning the following:

-Proposed Rule Stage:

• custody rule for investment advisers;
• listing and trading of exchange-traded products; and
• open-end fund liquidity and dilution management.

-Final Rule Stage:

• tailored shareholder reports, treatment of annual prospectus updates for existing investors, and improved fee and risk disclosure for mutual funds and ETFs; fee information in investment company advertisements;
• proxy votes by funds and reporting on executive compensation votes by institutional investment managers;
• money market fund reforms relating to the proposed removal of the liquidity fee and redemption gate provisions in the existing rule and the implementation of swing pricing policies and procedures for certain money market funds;
• private fund adviser matters relating to conflicts of interest and transparency and documentation of adviser compliance reviews;
• shortening of the securities transaction settlement cycle;
• modernization of beneficial ownership reporting;
• short sale disclosure reform;
• Form PF and reporting requirements for large private equity advisers and large liquidity fund advisers; and
• further definition of dealers.

The SEC’s rulemaking list is available here.