Monday, December 13, 2021

“Wisely and Slow; They Stumble that Run Fast.”

Finding a Better Value Proposition for the SEC's Sec Lending Disclosure Rule

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

The SEC has proposed a radical and potentially very costly reporting regime for securities finance transactions to increase transparency "to brokers, dealers, and investors."  While there is no requirement for the Commission to discuss or examine the economic effects of regulatory alternatives, in this case, they have included some alternatives it could consider to the reporting structure they propose, presumably to focus potential commenters on specific ideas they want explored. The Commission has seemingly outsourced the economic analysis of its suggested alternatives to industry commenters. Also, by doing so, the Commission has hinted it is interested in hearing about well-supported alternatives, and may even be inviting counter-proposals. 

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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Who Bears the Cost of the SEC's Securities Lending Disclosure Proposal?

The Winners and Losers in Mandatory Transparency

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently proposed a new reporting regime to increase transparency and efficiency in the securities-lending market. The proposal is a sweeping change and a somewhat novel approach to bringing securities lending out of the dark. While the merits of the proposal's approach will no doubt be thoroughly scrutinized and debated, so should its cost and who will bear that cost. While the potential benefits would seem to flow to all participants in the securities lending markets, the SEC's choice to place the reporting burden on lenders and their agents also burdens those loan participants (lenders particularly) with nearly the entire cost of compliance. 

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Sunday, November 28, 2021

U.S. Stock Loan "Ticker": A Gift to Beneficial Owners?

SEC's New Disclosure Regime to Fix "Information Assymetry"

Author: Ed Blount

Make no mistake. The new 10c-1 disclosure proposal by the SEC is an Investor Protection Rule on steroids. It is also a profound escalation of regulatory support for Investor Self-Protection. Nothing less than a near real-time stock loan ticker will result, if enacted, that is intended to reveal U.S. loan rates and liquidity to the investing public for the first time in history.

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Sunday, November 21, 2021

SEC Proposes Sweeping Securities Lending Disclosure Rules

Bringing Securities Lending Out of the Dark.

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

On November 18, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed broad disclosure rules intended to "provide transparency in the securities lending market." As directed by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Commission proposed these rules to (1) supplement publicly available information, (2) close data gaps in the securities lending market, (3) minimize information asymmetries between market participants, and (5) provide market participants with access to pricing and other material information.

Further, the data elements proposed to be collected are intended to provide regulators with the information necessary to perform effective market surveillance. "This proposal would bring securities lending out of the dark," according to SEC Chair Gary Gensler. 

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Monday, November 1, 2021

A Twenty-Year Journey to Transparency

Securities Lending Versus Proxy Voting

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

Securities lending has proven the most challenging aspect of shadow banking for regulators to bring under a regulatory rubric. One of the most vexing aspects for regulators is proxy voting by securities lenders or, more particularly, the lenders' decision processes about whether to recall lent securities to vote their proxies and forego the lending income. The calculus about whether to forego lending income in favor of exercising the right to vote relies on so many factors that regulators are hesitant to second-guess. Nonetheless, investors in lenders like mutual funds have a right to know how investment managers make these decisions. And now, the enormous demand for ESG investing is driving an intensifying interest in how funds are managing governance decisions. Perhaps it is time to explore more active metrics to avoid what could be more needless and ultimately unhelpful disclosure to shareholders. 

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