By: Kane Barnett
What the ASIC chair said
At a recent industry event, the chair of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), indicated that ASIC would be increasing its scrutiny of private market funds.
Read MoreBy: Ed Dartley and Jamie M. Robinson
The clock ran out Monday, 22 July 2024 for the SEC and its timeline to appeal the unanimous decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to vacate the Private Fund Adviser Rules (PFAR). The 2023 August adoption of PFAR and the Fifth Circuit’s 2024 June subsequent decision to vacate, has caused both controversy and compliance confusion across the private fund sector over the last few years. Even in the absence of an appeal, open questions remain surrounding the implications of future rulemaking under Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and the SEC’s stated goal to enhance transparency in the private funds space.
While the next steps for the SEC remain to be seen, managers and investors alike will still need to gauge market reaction to the core principles of PFAR and how they may drive industry initiatives separate and apart from any future regulatory efforts. For example, Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) continues to adjust the parameters of the “Quarterly Reporting Standards Initiative” which was launched in early 2024 and proposes model reporting forms that are substantively similar to what was proposed in the Quarterly Statements provision of PFAR. Now that the “wait and see” attitude on PFAR is past us, it can be expected that private fund industry participants will continue to explore the parameters of the goals that PFAR tried to achieve.
By: Gayle Bowen and Shane Geraghty
The European Commission (EC) has adopted the long awaited ELTIF 2.0 Delegated Regulation (RTS). Its version rejects a number of key proposals previously introduced by ESMA. In particular, the EC has returned to its original versions of Annex I and Annex II, with minor amendments.
Read MoreBy: Jim Bulling and Emre Cakmakcioglu
In May 2024, the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner (Commissioner) published a Discussion Paper introducing a draft Code of Practice (Code) to reduce modern slavery in the financial services sector. The Commissioner sought feedback on both the Discussion Paper and Code by 15 July 2024.
Read MoreBy: Richard F. Kerr, Jennifer L. Klass, C. Todd Gibson, and Kenneth Holston
On 13 May 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) jointly proposed rulemaking to implement section 326 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (CIP Rulemaking), which would require SEC-registered investment advisers (RIAs) and exempt reporting advisers (ERAs) to establish written customer identification programs (CIP).
Read MoreBy: Kane Barnett and Prudence Birchall
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (Committee) has commenced an inquiry into the wholesale investor test for offers of securities, and the wholesale client test for financial products and services (together, wholesale investor/client tests) in the Corporations Act 2001 (link here) (Inquiry).
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: 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: 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:
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