Private Funds Regulatory Update

SEC Proposal to Substantially Reduce Form 13F Reporting Obligations

On July 10, 2020, the SEC proposed increasing the reporting threshold that triggers the filing of a Form 13F from $100-million worth of “13(f) securities” to $3.5 billion. The $100-million threshold has not changed since Congress amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in 1975.

› Read more

BE-180 — Mandatory Survey of Cross-Border Financial Services Transactions

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis has begun the process of collecting the 2019 BE-180 Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons. BE-180 information is collected every five years.

› Read more

CFTC Actions on Automated Trading

On June 25, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a rulemaking proposal addressing the risks of electronic trading causing disruptions in the commodity futures, options and swaps markets. The proposed regulations would impose new obligations upon exchange operators to take steps to prevent, detect and mitigate market disruptions associated with electronic trading.

› Read more

CFTC Conditions Rule 4.13 Eligibility on Absence of Statutory Disqualifications

On June 4, 2020, the CFTC amended Rule 4.13, which contains a fund-level registration exemption that is frequently claimed by private fund managers, to require a manager seeking to claim a Rule 4.13 exemption to represent that neither it nor any of its principals is subject to a statutory disqualification listed in Section 8a(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act.

› Read more

Reminder: Swaps Proficiency Requirements for Associated Persons

Managers that are registered with the CFTC and are members of the National Futures Association should note that compliance with the NFA’s new swaps proficiency requirements is required by Jan. 31, 2021.

› Read more

EU Shareholder Rights Directive

The implementation of the EU Shareholder Rights Directive will, among other things, introduce a new regulatory framework enabling EU issuers to identify their shareholders. From Sept. 3, 2020, EU-based “intermediaries” will be required to respond to requests from issuers to identify clients with holdings over a stated percentage of shares or voting rights.

› Read more

Implementation of the New Marketing Regime in Switzerland

The Swiss financial regulator, FINMA, has recently approved several investor complaint mediation bodies to serve as ombudsmen for financial services disputes. As a result, managers that offer their funds in Switzerland are required to join a financial ombudsman organization by Dec. 24, 2020.

› Read more

CISA Releases First Installment of its ‘Cyber Essentials’ Toolkits

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued the first of a series of six cyber essentials toolkits, as a follow-up to CISA’s November 2019 release of CISA’s Cyber Essentials. On July 1, CISA published the second toolkit on its website.

› Read more