Bloomberg on MFs Regulatory Revamp
Bloomberg writes that, "Money-Market Funds Brace for Biggest Regulatory Revamp in Years," which says, "The money-market industry is gearing up for its biggest overhaul in years." (See also, Bloomberg's "SEC Removes ‘Swing Pricing’ From Money-Market Fund Overhaul Plan.") The piece explains, "Participants in the $5.5 trillion space await the US Securities and Exchange Commission's vote Wednesday on rules reshaping the money-market industry for the third time since 2008. That's when the Reserve Primary Fund, the original money market fund first created in 1970, was forced to reprice its shares below $1, in a shift that became known as 'breaking the buck,' after investors pulled $40 billion in just two days. While proposed changes were revealed more than 18 months ago, it's not clear what final rules will be approved. At one end of the spectrum are the low-hanging fruit, mainly removing the liquidity threshold that imposes fees on withdrawals and improving reporting requirements. On the other end lie more onerous policies, such as forcing investors to pay a fee to pull out funds." The piece quotes K&L Gates LLP's Jon-Luc Dupuy, "We're all really waiting with bated breath to see where it’s going. I'm not a betting person normally, so I couldn't bet what it would be." Bloomberg's article tells us, "The best-case scenario for many in the industry would be if the SEC tackles those simpler changes like removing links between fees and liquidity levels first, with a pledge to continue working on the more complicated policies. This is similar to the post-financial crisis period when regulators adopted daily and weekly liquidity requirements, higher credit quality, and shorter maturity limits in 2010. It followed with the more onerous pieces like floating net asset values for institutional prime funds, and liquidity gates and fees in 2014. Meanwhile, the cash parked at money-market funds climbed to a fresh record through the week ended July 5 as short-term rates above 5% continue to lure investors to money-market assets."
