SEC Releases Spring 2024 Regulatory Agenda, Plans to Re-Propose Several Key Rules

Quick Take: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a division of the Office of Management and Budget, released its Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which includes short- and long-term regulatory actions that government agencies, including the SEC, plan to take. The SEC’s Agenda provides insight into the SEC’s priorities and anticipated timing of actions; however, the timing of rule adoptions and proposals may vary and could come before or after dates listed in the Agenda. The SEC’s Agenda includes eight items from the SEC’s Division of Investment Management.

The SEC’s Agenda could be affected by the Congressional Review Act. When a new administration enters the White House (which could occur in January 2025), typically, a regulatory moratorium is ordered, which means no new rules are adopted and some rules finalized in the last days of the prior administration are stayed. In addition, under the Congressional Review Act, Congress and the President can act to reverse previously adopted rules without engaging in a new rulemaking analysis. As a result, most administrations attempt to finalize significant rulemakings at least six months before a potential change in administrations.

Notably, the SEC’s Agenda withdraws the 2022 Open-End Fund Liquidity Risk Management Programs and Swing Pricing proposals, and sets up the re-proposal of the Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets and the Predictive Data Analytics rules. Investment-management related proposals in the SEC’s Agenda, including existing proposals slated for finalization, are as follows: