The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted rules and amendments designed to promote research on mutual funds, exchange‑traded funds, registered closed-end funds, business development companies, and similar covered investment funds.
When proposing the rule in May, Jay Clayton, SEC chairman, said the proposed changes were “intended to provide investors with greater access to research to aid them in making investment decisions.”
The rules and amendments generally establish a safe harbor for a broker or dealer to publish or distribute research reports on investment funds under certain conditions. This new safe harbor is similar to a regulatory safe harbor that currently exists for research reports about public companies.
The Commission took this action in furtherance of the mandate of the Fair Access to Investment Research Act of 2017 (FAIR Act).
