The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") released the latest edition of its monthly policy newsletter. This month's stories focus heavily on MFA's advocacy outreach efforts, its contributions to a leading industry research report and other MFA news, including: the SEC's granting MFA's no-action letter to update the definition of "knowledgeable employees" under Investment Company Act rules; MFA's comments to the CFTC on its proposal for position limits on derivatives and proposed rule on aggregation limits; Richard H. Baker's commentary on the state of the hedge fund industry, which was published

FINRA filed with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend NASD Rule 2340 ("Customer Account Statements") and FINRA Rule 2310 ("Direct Participation Programs") to modify the requirements applicable to members' participation in a public offering of unlisted direct participation programs ("DPPs’") or real estate investment trust ("REIT") securities. The SEC published the rule proposal in the Federal Register (linked below) to solicit comments. Comments are due by March 12, 2014. See: 79 FR 9535.

The SEC issued no-action relief permitting an SEC-registered investment company to maintain custody of its precious metals in a vault or other secure custody facility owned and operated by the Brink's Company ("Brink's") in the U.S. or UK. The no-action relief was granted provided that a majority of the investment company's board members determined that Brink's custody services for precious metals were in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. YouTube documentary on Brink's. See: SEC No-Action Letter.

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") submitted comments to the Australian Treasury regarding the most recent draft of the Investment Manager Regime legislation ("IMR 3"). MFA noted that, while the revised draft contains some positive changes, it continues to have provisions that make the achievement of its objective to encourage foreign funds to invest in Australia unlikely. In particular, MFA expressed concerns regarding the draft's (i) limits on the amount of any individual's participation in a fund, which could exclude many funds as a result of standard performance allocations; (ii)

The FDIC extended the comment period for the Single Point of Entry ("SPOE") strategy for the Resolution of Systemically Important Financial Institutions until March 20, 2014. The SPOE strategy was published in the Federal Register on December 18, 2013. See : FDIC Release; Extension Notice. See also: 78 FR 76614.