The SEC proposed amendments to the requirements applicable to money market funds pursuant to ICA Rule 2a-7 ("Money Market Funds") under the Investment Company Act that are generally aimed at preventing a run on money market funds during a time of financial crisis. The amendments were proposed in light of the significant redemptions experienced by money market funds at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regulatory Changes

The proposed amendments include:

  • increasing the amount of assets with daily liquidity that a money market fund must hold from 10 percent to 25 percent of its assets; and increasing the amount of assets with weekly liquidity that a money market fund must hold from 30 percent of its assets to 50 percent; funds would be required to institute stress tests to determine their minimum level of desired liquidity; the SEC asks for comment as to what requirements should be imposed on a fund that fails to maintain its required liquidity level;
  • removing from the existing money market funds rule the authority of funds to impose either gates on redemption or to impose liquidity fees on redeeming investors (the SEC said that such authority was counterproductive encouraging investors to redeem before the gates or fees could be imposed);
  • requiring institutional prime and institutional tax-exempt money market funds to implement swing pricing, which would permit adjustments to current net asset value per share when the fund has net redemptions (and result in redeeming investors bearing liquidity costs);
  • modifying certain reporting requirements on Forms N-MFP and N-CR to improve the availability of money market fund information, and making conforming changes to Form N-1A to reflect proposed changes to the regulatory framework for these funds;
  • adding provisions to address how money market funds with stable net asset values should handle a negative interest rate environment;
  • adding provisions that specify how funds must calculate weighted average maturity and weighted average life; and
  • imposing additional reporting requirements on money market funds, including that a fund must file a report when it falls below a specified liquidity threshold.

Comments on the proposal are due within 45 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

Commissioner Statements

SEC Chair Gary Gensler supported the proposal, saying the reforms will help maintain "fair, orderly, and efficient markets." SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee called the proposal a "necessary continuation of our focus on addressing weaknesses of these funds." She added that, with respect to the public comment period, she would like to better understand the "foreseeable impacts of swing pricing" and how it might impact investor choice. SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw stated that both the SEC and investors would be better positioned to "monitor funds' activities and evaluate the impact of market stress on those funds."

SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce opposed the proposal, saying that, as in the existing rule, there is "too much regulatory prescription and too little room for experimentation by funds." Ms. Peirce said the proposal could "undermine the objective of making money market funds more resilient" and would "continue the trend of driving more money into government funds." Ms. Peirce said, such an outcome would leave investors, issuers and markets worse off. Ms. Peirce was supportive of the reform to eliminate the connection between liquidity thresholds and fees and gates.

SEC Commissioner Elad L. Roisman supported some elements of the proposal, including the effort to explore several measures that could reduce run risk for money market funds. However, he dissented and expressed "strong reservations" about the requirement that a "uniform approach to charge fees to redeeming investors" would be applied to all institutional non-government money market funds (emphasis in original). Further, he found the timing of the comment period to be a "major shortcoming," saying that he did not have confidence that market participants will be able to provide meaningful feedback over a comment period that aligns with several holidays and five other proposed rulemakings.

Commentary

There may be no area in securities law that is so conceptually difficult to create sound regulation as with respect to money market funds.  The central question is: how does one create a fund that maintains a fixed share value of $1, notwithstanding fluctuation in the value of the fund's asset, and yet avoid having investors redeem when they believe that the true value of the fund is less than $1?  So far, mission not accomplished.  

Given the difficulty of the problem, Commissioner Peirce's suggestion that the SEC should be less prescriptive and let different funds approach the problem differently makes sense.  After all, as the SEC concedes, the regulatory imposition of gates did not work.  Perhaps the SEC would do better to let the market experiment with solutions.  

Primary Sources

  1. SEC Proposed Rule: Money Market Fund Reforms
  2. SEC Fact Sheet: Money Market Fund Reforms
  3. SEC Chair Gary Gensler's Statement of Support
  4. SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee's Statement of Support
  5. SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw's Statement of Support
  6. SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce's Statement of Dissent
  7. SEC Commissioner Elad L. Roisman's Statement of Dissent

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