The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted final rules on money market (2a-7) fund reforms. These reforms are designed to make money market funds more resilient and liquid, potentially making them safer and more attractive vehicles for mutual funds to use as collateral pools for their securities lending programs.
 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted a new rule, rule 10c-1, to increase transparency in the securities lending market. The rule requires certain persons to report information about securities loans to a registered national securities association (RNSA). The RNSA will then make certain information publicly available. Published in December of 2021, the proposal received considerable public comment, requiring the Commission to extend the initial 30-day comment period twice, once due to a technical problem receiving comments, and then again to consider whether there would be any effects of proposed Rule 13f–2 that the Commission should consider in connection with proposed Rule 10c–1. Throughout the final release, the Commission notes where persuasive public comment informed the ultimate text of the rule.

In its recently updated regulatory flexibility agenda, the Securities and Exchange Commission has set its priorities for 2023. A mix of old and new business, the Commission's 2023 plans include finalizing 29 existing proposals and placing 23 new proposals up for consideration. 

On November 2, 2022 the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized the first of its market data rule proposals. The amendments to form N-PX bring greater detail, consistency, and usability to the proxy voting information reported by mutual funds. These changes came in response to investors, who have said for nearly twenty years that they would benefit from more readily usable information and more details. But, new disclosures about proxy voting versus securities lending may have funds and their lending agents reexamining their policies and priorities. 

The Common Domain Model (CDM), ISDA's ambitious securities lending standardization project, is a step closer to reality. And industry leaders already see opportunities for application. In a report jointly produced with Linklaters, ISDA outlined the project's progress since its launch in 2021 [1] and described how the CDM lays the foundation for distributed ledger (DLT)-based smart contracts to remake the securities lending landscape.