Exploring the legal and regulatory issues affecting the worldwide asset management community.
By: Claudine Salameh and Tamsyn Sharpe
On 15 March 2024 the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) came into effect for authorised-deposit taking institutions (ADIs). Application of the FAR will be extended to insurers and registrable superannuation entities from 15 March 2025.
Read MoreBy: Matthew Rogers and Annabelle North
Following up on its previously-issued Investor Alert warning investors on the use of so-called “AI washing” by advisers in their marketing materials, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on 18 March 2024 the settlements of charges against two investment advisers for “making false and misleading statements about their purported use of artificial intelligence (AI).”
Read MoreBy: Lisa Lautier and Prudence Birchall
The Financial Services Council (FSC) in collaboration with the Responsible Investment Association of Australia (RIAA) released an information sheet for members (FSC Information Sheet) outlining overarching principles in relation to the use of responsible or sustainability-related terms in investment product labelling to promote consistency across the industry.
Read MoreBy: Matthew Watts, Lisa Lautier and Dhivya Kalyanakumar
On 15 March 2024 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued a new legislative instrument extending existing regulatory relief previously only available to passively managed index tracking exchange traded funds (ETFs) so that it will now also apply to a broader range of ETFs (such as actively managed ETFs) quoted on a financial market operated by the ASX or Cboe.
Read MoreBy: Richard F. Kerr, Eden L. Rohrer, Jessica D. Cohn, and Raymond F. Jensen
On 18 March 2024, the National Association of Private Fund Managers, Alternative Investment Management Association, Limited and Managed Funds Association (together, Plaintiffs) jointly filed a complaint (Complaint) against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that the SEC’s newly adopted final rule (Dealer Rule) vastly overstepped and expanded the SEC’s authority. The Complaint, which was filed in federal court in Texas, details how the Dealer Rule, expanding those industry participants who would be “dealers” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, is overbroad and was adopted in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.
Read MoreBy: Edward Bennett, Roberta Chang, Anita Zhou and Ke Jia Lim
Historically, Singapore has not taxed capital gains. However, since 1 January 2024, under the newly enacted Section 10L of the Income Tax Act 1947 of Singapore, gains received in Singapore from the sale or disposal of any foreign asset (e.g. shares issued by a company incorporated outside Singapore) by an entity within a multinational group will be treated as taxable income if the entity does not have adequate economic substance in Singapore. Section 10L is designed to address international tax avoidance risks and align the key areas of Singapore’s tax regime with international norms and the European Union’s Code of Conduct Group’s foreign source income exemption (FSIE) guidance.
Read MoreBy: Ron Feldman and Philipp Riedl
Deficiencies in compliance with derivatives post trade reporting rules have recently triggered regulator fines. Fin-FSA in Finland fined a pension fund €90K and the Central Bank of Ireland imposed the first fine on an investment fund, €192K. Although the fines are reasonably modest, they have sharpened industry focus on this issue.
Read MoreBy: Gayle Bowen and Shane Geraghty
After much anticipation, the new ELTIF 2.0 regime has gone live in Ireland. The Central Bank has, this morning, issued a feedback statement outlining how its new regime will work. Key points include the following:
Read MoreBy: Jamie L. Jackson and Yuki Sako
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (Select Committee) issued a bipartisan report criticizing investments made by US venture capital firms (VC), as well as US institutional investors as limited partners (LP), into companies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor sectors (Report). In line with the Select Committee’s previously released report strategizing how to reset the United States’ economic and technological competition with China, the Report signals Congress’ intensified interest in curtailing the unintentional flow of US investments into China’s military industrial complex.
Read MoreBy: TJ Bright, Matt F. Phillips, and Tristen C. Rodgers
For the past two decades, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program (the SBIC Program) has primarily offered one type of government-guaranteed loan to private investment funds holding an SBIC license (SBICs): the “Standard SBIC Debenture.” This loan requires private funds to pay the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) interest semi-annually, which closely aligns with the cash flow patterns of mezzanine debt and private credit funds. As a result, the ecosystem of debt-focused SBICs has thrived. However, the SBIC Program has been less attractive to funds with equity-oriented strategies.
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