Client Alert
On June 12, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a release seeking public comment to help inform its review of the listing and trading of new, novel, or complex exchange-traded products. These products include:
- ETFs—exchange-traded funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as open-end funds or unit investment trusts;
- Non-1940 Act Pooled Investment Vehicles—trust or partnership vehicles that do not invest primarily in securities, but rather physically hold precious metals or commodity or currency derivatives; and
- Exchange-Traded Notes—senior debt instruments issued by financial institutions that pay a return based on the performance of a reference asset, such as an index, a stock or basket of stocks, or an investment strategy.
While ETPs are subject to certain requirements under the Securities Act of 1933 and the 1940 Act, the focus of the release is on the oversight of ETPs under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules thereunder.