On February 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission published a request for public comment (Comment Request) on potential reform measures to improve the resilience of money market funds, as highlighted in a report of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets issued in December 2020 (Report).
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Federal Register
SEC Issues Statement on Custody of Digital Asset Securities by Special Purpose Broker-Dealers
On December 23, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement and request for comment relating to custody of digital asset securities by broker-dealers, including certain conditional, time-limited relief for such arrangements. The statement will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.
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SEC Adopts Clearing Agency Rule to Limit Potential for Overlapping or Duplicative Regulation
On December 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it adopted a rule to limit the potential for overlapping or duplicative regulation within its security-based swap regulatory regime. Specifically, the rule exempts certain activities of security-based swap execution facilities (SEFs) and security-based swap dealers from triggering the requirement also to register as a clearing agency. The adopted rule is in line with similar exemptions for broker-dealers and national securities exchanges.
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SEC Adopts Final Rules for the Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers
On December 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt final rules that will require resource extraction issuers that are required to file reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) to disclose payments made to the US federal government or foreign governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals.
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CFTC Extends Temporary No-Action Relief From Trade Execution Requirement for Certain Affiliated Counterparties
On December 17, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight issued CFTC Letter No. 20-45, which extends relief from the trade execution requirement for certain inter-affiliate transactions provided under CFTC Letter No. 17-67 (available here) and prior staff letters. CFTC Letter No. 17-67 provides relief from the trade execution requirement under CFTC Regulation 50.52(a) with regard to swaps that are entered into by eligible affiliate counterparties and cleared, regardless of the affiliates’ ability to claim the inter-affiliate clearing exemption under CFTC Regulation 50.52(b). The no-action relief was set to expire on December 31.
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CFTC Unanimously Approves Final Rules Related to Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants
On December 8, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved two final rules related to margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers (SD) and major swap participants (MSP).
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CFTC Unanimously Approves Technical Amendments to Reflect Organizational Changes
On December 8, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a final rule making technical amendments to CFTC regulations to align with recent organizational changes, remove unnecessary language, and correct inaccurate text and other typographical errors. The amendments are immediately effective upon publication in the Federal Register, unless otherwise noted.
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SEC Adopts Amendments to MD&A and Other Financial Disclosures
On November 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it adopted amendments (the Amendments) to certain financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K, including with respect to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A).
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SEC Staff Issues Statement Regarding Signature Requirements
On November 20, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance, the Division of Investment Management, and the Division of Trading and Markets (the Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an updated statement on requirements for manual signatures related to SEC filings.
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Nasdaq Seeks SEC Approval of Board Diversity Rule
On December 1, the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) filed a rule proposal (the Proposal) with the Securities and Exchange Commission that, if approved by the SEC, would require all Nasdaq-listed issuers to comply with listing rules concerning board diversity and related disclosure.
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