Forum News Feed

December 20, 2023

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced enforcement settlements with three mainland Chinese and Hong Kong firms in accordance with the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA) which was signed into law in December of 2020. The sanctions cover two firms headquartered in mainland China and one in Hong Kong, including two China-based affiliates of PwC and one unaffiliated China-based firm, Shandong Haoxin, along with four individual auditors at that firm.

December 19, 2023

The authors, Peter Cziraki and Adriana Robertson, focus their research on corporate boards, but there are interesting and practical takeaways for fund boards. The study focuses on three patterns: the increase in women with board experience, board size, and the trend toward replacing men with women directors.

December 18, 2023

The two reports include data covering independent director compensation and gender breakdown on boards. The study on gender representation on boards found that females accounted for 26% of independent directors. The study also found a correlation between the number of females on a board and AUM noting, “female directors comprise over 38% of independent directors for boards with more than $100B in AUM.

December 14, 2023

Dear Board Doc Question: AI is evolving rapidly, and it is impacting many aspects of the financial services industry. As a fund Board member, what do I need to know and what factors should I consider with respect to managers and fund service providers that utilize AI?

December 13, 2023

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the release of its 2023 Fall Regulatory Agenda which includes estimated timeframes for specific rulemaking topics. SEC Chair Gary Gensler noted the Commission is “updating our rules to promote the efficiency, integrity, and resiliency of the markets… with an eye toward investors and issuers alike, to ensure the markets work for them and not the other way around.”

December 12, 2023

The Mutual Fund Directors Forum and Deloitte plan to host a webinar titled, “Investment Valuation and Governance: Deloitte's 21st Annual Fair Valuation Pricing Survey.” The panel will discuss insights, emerging, maturing and industry trends and observations from the Deloitte Annual Fair Valuation Survey.

December 11, 2023

The EY panel will look at key risk factors, how to enhance collaboration on generative AI governance and risk management, how to deploy generative AI, and the impact of President Biden’s Executive Order on AI.

December 7, 2023

The Brookings Institution plans to host an event titled, “The Importance of Financial Data Collection and Standardization.” The panelists will discuss industry progress, what gaps need to be filled, and how to ensure data collection practices in the United States are utilized to guard against future financial system collapse.

December 6, 2023

The New York State Department of Financial Services released cybersecurity regulations that amend the state’s 2017 cybersecurity regulations. The amendments require the appointment of a chief information security officer, new risk and vulnerability assessments, and new notification requirements, among other changes.

December 5, 2023

The Mutual Fund Directors Forum and Cohen & Company plan to host a webinar titled, “Unique Oversight Considerations for ETFs.” Rich Wagner, Cohen & Company assurance partner and Jay Laurila, Cohen & Company tax partner, will discuss the unique complexities of board oversight of ETFs.

December 4, 2023

The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy held a hearing entitled, “The Tangled Web of Global Governance: How the Biden Administration is Ceding Authority Over American Financial Regulation.” Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr (R-KY) argued that regulators are using global governance bodies to appear neutral and to push activist policies such as “greening the financial system” and changing capital buffer requirements.

November 30, 2023

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Director of Investment Management, William Birdthistle, delivered remarks titled, “Private Equity: Past & Present, Charters & Code," and noted that as a regulator he is “confined by at least two critical constraints of expertise: the plumbing of our financial system and the legal authorities granted by Congress.” He also addressed the rise of assets in private funds, stating “the total universe is approaching par with the $30 trillion of assets in America’s registered investment companies: mutual funds, closed-end funds, money market funds, and exchange-traded funds.”

November 29, 2023

On Thursday, November 30 at 2:00pm ET, the Mutual Fund Directors Forum plans to host a webinar titled, “Fund Compliance: CCO vs. Trustee Perspectives.” The Forum will be joined by Ira Cohen, Chair of Angel Oak Funds, President & CEO of Vigilant Compliance, Salvatore Faia, and Managing Director of Vigilant Compliance, Bernadette Murphy.

November 28, 2023

On Wednesday, November 29 at 2:00pm ET, the Mutual Fund Directors Forum plans to hold a webinar titled, “Alternative Investments: Their Rise in Popularity, Trends, and Potential Pitfalls.” The webinar, moderated by Forum Board Member and Independent Trustee of the Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund Sanjeev Handa, will include a presentation and perspectives from Brian Marcus, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager in Global Credit at Carlyle.

November 27, 2023

The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets held a hearing entitled, “Examining the SEC’s Agenda: Unintended Consequences for U.S. Capital Markets and Investors.” Chairman Ann Wagner (R-MO) argued that regulatory action should only be taken when explicitly authorized by Congress. She said the SEC’s rapid pace of rulemaking raises questions about the ability of the SEC to evaluate the cumulative effects and other implications of the rules.

November 21, 2023

PwC recently released its 15th “Annual Corporate Directors Survey” which surveys over 600 public company directors on a variety of issues including ESG oversight, crisis management, board diversity, board effectiveness, and cyber oversight, among other areas. The survey notes “[r]esistance to evolution continues to plague many boards, particularly when it requires self-reflection about their own composition.”

November 20, 2023

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Enforcement results for the fiscal year 2023. Chair Gary Gensler noted “Last fiscal year’s results demonstrate yet again the Division’s effectiveness—working alongside colleagues throughout the agency—in following the facts and the law wherever they lead to hold wrongdoers accountable.”

November 16, 2023

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied petitions to review the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of the Nasdaq diversity disclosure rule. A Simpson Thacher Memorandum notes that the Appeals Court “rejected petitioners’ constitutional and statutory claims, framing Nasdaq’s diversity rule as consistent with the Securities Exchange Act’s ‘fundamental purpose’ of enforcing ‘a philosophy of full disclosure… in the securities industry.’”

November 15, 2023

The Mutual Fund Directors Forum and Management Practice (MPI) plan to host a webinar titled, “Mutual Fund CCO Compensation: The MPI Annual Survey Update.” For the last 18 years, MPI has released its annual CCO Compensation survey highlighting compensation data received through confidential questionnaires from fund CCOs and other industry executives.

November 14, 2023

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) voted to overhaul the process to designate nonbank financial companies as systemically important financial institutions (SIFI) which would subject them to supervision by the Federal Reserve and additional regulations. The new process reverses a Trump administration policy stating that regulators should use an “activities-based approach” rather than singling out individual firms.