In his remarks this week to the Economic Club of New York, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton reviewed the many rulemaking and other accomplishments of the SEC in recent years.  Following the impressive recap, the Chair took time to identify a number of areas “in need of imminent improvements.”  Though a new Chair will undoubtedly have identified other priorities, Chair Clayton’s list bears consideration.  He identified, among others, the following areas:

• Money market funds and pointed to the SEC’s recent report on US Credit Markets.  The report highlighted risks related to short-term funding, which became evident as a result of the pandemic;
• Securitization, and noted that since the adoption of Regulation AB II in 2014, there have been no SEC-registered RMBS offerings;
• Proxy system improvements, including updates to the OBO-NOBO rules;
• “Good corporate hygiene” related matters, including the operation of Rule 10b5-1, insider trading policies, equity compensation issuances to executives;
• Completion of Dodd-Frank Act related rules, including compensation clawbacks; and
• Material ESG related disclosures.

See the full text of Chair Clayton’s remarks here.

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