The SEC is set to have a busy remainder of the year, with plans to finalize dozens of rules and introduce nearly 20 new rule proposals, according to its updated regulatory agenda.
The agenda, released Tuesday, lists 37 rules in the final rule-making stage and 18 in the proposed rule-making stage.
"In every generation since President Franklin Roosevelt's, our commission has updated its ruleset to meet the challenges of a new hour," Chairman Gary Gensler said in a news release Tuesday. "Consistent with our legal mandate, guided by economic analysis, and informed by public comment, this agenda reflects the latest step in that long tradition. Thus, I am pleased to support it."
The proposed rules include those related to conflicts in the use of artificial intelligence for both investment advisers and broker-dealers, enhanced disclosure on the diversity of board members and nominees, as well as enhanced disclosure on human capital management.
For rules in the final rule-making stage, some contentious ones include the climate disclosure rule proposal and the swing pricing rule proposal, both of which are set to be finalized in October, the agenda states.
The former proposal would require registered entities to disclose a host of climate-related information in their periodic reports and registration statements, while the latter proposal would require any open-end fund — other than a money market fund or exchange-traded fund — to use swing pricing. Swing pricing adjusts a fund's value based on trades, so redeeming shareholders bear the costs of transactions, rather than diluting other shareholders
When he testified before Congress in April, Mr. Gensler told lawmakers, "We're not a climate regulator," in regard to the climate disclosure proposal. Many Republicans have said the proposal overreaches the SEC's authority.
"This is about companies that are already making disclosures and trying to bring some consistency to that disclosure," Mr. Gensler added.
Mr. Gensler also defended the agency's swing pricing rule proposal at the Investment Company Institute Leadership Summit in May, when ICI president and CEO Eric Pan questioned the chairman on whether the proposal is needed to address dilution.
In a statement Wednesday, American Securities Association president and CEO Chris Iacovella said: "ASA has been supportive of certain aspects of the SEC's agenda, including addressing issues related to the gamification of trading and the Chinese Communist Party's exploitation of our capital markets. However, we are concerned that once again the SEC's agenda does not include any items to promote capital formation for small businesses and companies looking to enter the public markets."
