The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940 that will allow exchange-traded funds that satisfy certain standardized conditions to operate without first obtaining individual exemptive relief. At the same time, the SEC adopted related form amendments and issued conditional exemptive relief from certain provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to transactions in shares of ETFs that rely on the rule. Taken together, the Commission actions simplify and modernize the regulatory framework governing ETFs and provide ETFs greater operational flexibility than exists under exemptive relief issued in recent years.