Investment advisors can no longer rely on a host of Securities and Exchange Commission staff letters that provided guidance on how to comply with the agency's current advertising and cash solicitation rules.
The SEC's Division of Investment Management recently issued an update on its new Marketing Rule, amended Rule 206(4)-1, stating that it was rescinding a bevy of SEC Staff Letters that provided guidance.
On Dec. 22, 2020, the Commission adopted amended rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, a single rule that will replace both the current advertising and cash solicitation rules and will govern investment advisor marketing. The new rule has a compliance date of Nov. 4, 2022.
"Many of the positions taken in those guidance documents have been incorporated into the rule and others have been modified or rejected," the SEC's IM division said.
'First Page of a New Book'
"Significantly, the update includes a list of the SEC no-action letters … that are now withdrawn and no longer valid for reliance by investment advisers," explained FrontLine Compliance in a Friday alert. "It's time to throw out the old book and open to the first page of a new book when it comes to advisers' advertising and solicitation practices."
