Compliance December 16, 2021

SEC Proposes New Money Market Fund Rules

The proposed amendments are designed to address potential runs on money market funds during times of market stress.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted to propose amendments to certain rules that govern money market funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The agency notes that in March 2020, growing economic concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led investors to reallocate their assets into cash and short-term government securities. The market fall sparked by fears of the pandemic started on March 9, 2020, with a record-setting 7.79% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Two more record-setting days followed—a 9.99% dive on March 12 and a 12.93% plunge on March 16 for the Dow.

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As a result of the market drops, prime and tax-exempt money market funds, particularly institutional funds, experienced large outflows, which contributed to stress on short-term funding markets. The SEC says its proposed amendments are designed, in part, to address concerns about prime and tax-exempt money market funds highlighted by these events.

The SEC says the proposed amendments would increase liquidity requirements for money market funds to provide a more substantial liquidity buffer in the event of rapid redemptions. The proposed amendments also would remove provisions in the current rule permitting or requiring a money market fund to impose liquidity fees or to suspend redemptions through a gate when a fund’s liquidity drops below an identified threshold. These provisions appeared to contribute to investors’ incentives to redeem in March 2020, as some funds’ reported liquidity levels declined, the SEC says.

To address concerns about redemption costs and liquidity, the proposal would require institutional prime and institutional tax-exempt money market funds to implement swing pricing policies and procedures that would require redeeming investors, under certain circumstances, to bear the liquidity costs of their redemptions. In addition, the proposal would amend certain reporting requirements to improve the availability of information about money market funds and enhance the SEC’s monitoring and analysis of these funds.

“Together, these amendments are designed to reduce the likelihood of runs on money market funds during periods of stress,” says SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “They also would equip funds to better meet large redemptions, addressing concerns about redemption costs and liquidity. Given the broad reach of short-term funding markets, these proposals speak to our remit to maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets.”

The SEC began evaluating the need for further money market fund reforms following the events in March 2020. Its proposal follows the agency issuing a request for comment to gather public feedback on potential reforms, including options discussed in a December 2020 report from the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.

A fact sheet about the proposal is here, and the text of the proposed rule is here. A 60-day comment period will start after the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register.

Compliance December 15, 2021

Lawmakers Introduce Legislation Regarding Retirement Account Withdrawals for Natural Disasters

The bipartisan bill automatically triggers tax relief if the president issues a federal disaster declaration.

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Members of the House Ways and Means Committee have introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow survivors of natural disasters to withdraw funds from their retirement accounts for emergency expenses without fees or penalties.

U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson, D-California, and Mike Kelly, R-Pennsylvania, say the Disaster Retirement Savings Act of 2021 would allow natural disaster victims to withdraw funds from their retirement accounts to pay for emergency costs and that the legislation is needed to assist survivors. Congress often acts after a disaster is declared to provide relief, but not soon enough, and survivors are uncertain when or if relief will be forthcoming, say the bill’s sponsors.

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Under current law, natural disaster survivors are subject to up to 20% withholding and 10% in tax penalties if they draw from retirement funds to cover emergency disaster costs. Survivors must often wait for the IRS to act to access funds without penalty.

With the new legislation, tax relief would be automatically triggered if the president issues a federal disaster declaration.

“Survivors of a natural disaster deserve to know that the federal government is working to help them respond and recover from the moment the emergency begins,” Thompson says. “We must pass this bill as soon as possible to be prepared.”

The bill would provide much-needed relief for survivors of natural disasters, such as the wildfires that roiled California this year and recent tornadoes that tore through several states, Kelly adds.  

“Americans should not be penalized for withdrawing their hard-earned retirement money to cover emergency costs stemming from a natural disaster,” he says.

The bill would allow survivors of natural disasters to access $100,000 of retirement funds after a federally declared disaster without paying fees or penalties. Funds can be used to cover costs including emergency housing and can be repaid over three years.

The entire text of the bill is available here.

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