FS Global Credit Opportunities Fund, et al., 44117-44125 [2020-15685]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others No written comments were either solicited or received. III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 20 and Rule 19b–4(f)(2) 21 thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule change if it appears to the Commission that such action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in the public interest; (ii) for the protection of investors; or (iii) otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved. IV. Solicitation of Comments Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Electronic Comments • Use the Commission’s internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml); or • Send an email to rule-comments@ sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– ISE–2020–26 on the subject line. Paper Comments • Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549–1090. All submissions should refer to File Number SR–ISE–2020–26. This file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission’s internet website (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the 20 15 21 17 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website viewing and printing in the Commission’s Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments received will be posted without change. Persons submitting comments are cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying information from comment submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number SR–ISE–2020–26 and should be submitted on or before August 11, 2020. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.22 J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2020–15688 Filed 7–20–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Investment Company Act Release No. 33927; File No. 812–14987] FS Global Credit Opportunities Fund, et al. July 15, 2020. Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: Notice of application for an order under sections 17(d) and 57(i) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’) and rule 17d–1 under the Act to permit certain joint transactions otherwise prohibited by sections 17(d) and 57(a)(4) of the Act and rule 17d–1 under the Act. Summary of Application: Applicants request an order to permit certain business development companies (‘‘BDCs’’) 1 and closed-end management investment companies to co-invest in portfolio companies with each other and CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 2(a)(48) defines a BDC to be any closedend investment company that operates for the purpose of making investments in securities described in section 55(a)(1) through 55(a)(3) and makes available significant managerial assistance with respect to the issuers of such securities. PO 00000 22 17 1 Section Frm 00079 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 44117 with affiliated investment funds and accounts. Applicants: FS Global Credit Opportunities Fund (the ‘‘Fund’’); FS Global Advisor, LLC (‘‘FS’’); FS Tactical Opportunities Fund, L.P. (‘‘Existing Affiliated Fund’’); and FS Tactical Advisor, LLC (‘‘Affiliated Fund Advisor’’, and together with the Fund, FS and the Existing Affiliated Fund, the ‘‘Applicants’’). Filing Dates: The application was filed on December 17, 2018, and amended on May 20, 2019, October 1, 2019, January 24, 2020, April 23, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the requested relief will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. Interested persons may request a hearing by emailing the Commission’s Secretary at SecretarysOffice@sec.gov and serving Applicants with a copy of the request by email. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by 5:30 p.m. on August 10, 2020 and should be accompanied by proof of service on the Applicants, in the form of an affidavit or, for lawyers, a certificate of service. Pursuant to rule 0–5 under the Act, hearing requests should state the nature of the writer’s interest, any facts bearing upon the desirability of a hearing on the matter, the reason for the request, and the issues contested. Persons who wish to be notified of a hearing may request notification by emailing the Commission’s Secretary at SecretarysOffice@sec.gov. ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission: SecretarysOffice@sec.gov. Applicants: legalnotices@fsinvestment.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara T. Heussler, Senior Counsel, at (202) 551–6990, or Trace W. Rakestraw, Branch Chief, at (202) 551–6825 (Division of Investment Management, Chief Counsel’s Office). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the application. The complete application may be obtained via the Commission’s website by searching for the file number, or for an applicant using the Company name box at https:// www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or by calling (202) 551–8090. Introduction 1. The Applicants request an order of the Commission under sections 17(d) and 57(i) of the Act and rule 17d–1 thereunder (the ‘‘Order’’) to permit, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the application (the E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 44118 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices ‘‘Conditions’’), a Regulated Fund 2 and one or more other Regulated Funds and/ or one or more Affiliated Funds 3 to enter into Co-Investment Transactions with each other. ‘‘Co-Investment Transaction’’ means any transaction in which one or more Regulated Funds (or its Wholly-Owned Investment Sub (as defined below)) participated together with one or more Affiliated Funds and/ or one or more other Regulated Funds in reliance on the Order. ‘‘Potential CoInvestment Transaction’’ means any investment opportunity in which a Regulated Fund (or its Wholly-Owned Investment Sub) could not participate together with one or more Affiliated Funds and/or one or more other Regulated Funds without obtaining and relying on the Order.4 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Applicants 2. The Fund is a closed-end management investment company registered under the Act and organized as a Delaware Statutory Trust. The Fund has a seven member Board 5 of which six members are Independent Trustees.6 2 ‘‘Regulated Funds’’ means the Fund and any Future Regulated Funds. ‘‘Future Regulated Fund’’ means a closed-end management investment company (a) that is registered under the Act or has elected to be regulated as a BDC, (b) whose investment adviser is an Adviser, and (c) that intends to participate in the program of coinvestments described in the application (‘‘CoInvestment Program’’). The definitions of Regulated Funds and Future Regulated Funds do not include FS KKR Capital Corp., FS KKR Capital Corp. II, FS Energy & Power Fund and FS Credit Income Fund because such funds are already operating pursuant to existing exemptive relief. See Corporate Capital Trust, Inc., et al., Investment Company Act Rel. Nos. 32642 (May 22, 2017)(notice) and 32683 (June 19, 2017)(order); Triloma EIG Energy Income Fund, et al., Investment Company Act Rel. Nos. 33047 (Mar. 14, 2018)(notice) and 33070 (Apr. 10, 2018)(order); and FS Credit Income Fund, et al., Investment Company Act Rel. Nos. 33848 (Apr. 22, 2020)(notice) and 33871 (May 19, 2020)(order). ‘‘Adviser’’ means FS, the Affiliated Fund Advisor and any future investment adviser that is (i) controlling, under common control with, or controlled by FS Investments (as defined below), (ii) registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Advisers Act’’), and (iii) not a Regulated Fund or a subsidiary of a Regulated Fund. 3 ‘‘Affiliated Fund’’ means any Existing Affiliated Fund any Future Affiliated Fund or any FS Proprietary Account (as defined below). ‘‘Future Affiliated Fund’’ means any entity (a) whose investment adviser is an Adviser, (b) that would be an investment company but for section 3(c)(1), 3(c)(5)(C) or 3(c)(7) of the Act, and (c) that intends to participate in the Co-investment Program. 4 All existing entities that currently intend to rely on the Order have been named as Applicants and any existing or future entities that may rely on the Order in the future will comply with the terms and Conditions set forth in the application. 5 ‘‘Board’’ means the board of trustees (or the equivalent) of the applicable Regulated Fund. 6 ‘‘Independent Trustee’’ means a member of the Board of any relevant entity who is not an ‘‘interested person’’ as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Act. No Independent Trustee of a Regulated VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 3. FS, a Delaware limited liability company, is a registered investment adviser with the Commission under the Advisers Act and serves as investment adviser to the Fund. 4. The Existing Affiliated Fund is a Delaware limited partnership that is a privately-offered fund that would be an investment company but for section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Act. The Affiliated Fund Advisor is a Delaware limited liability company and is registered as an investment adviser with the Commission under the Advisers Act and serves as the investment adviser to the Existing Affiliated Fund.7 5. FS Proprietary Accounts 8 may hold various financial assets in a principal capacity. Currently there are no FS Proprietary Accounts. 6. Applicants state that a Regulated Fund may, from time to time, form one or more Wholly-Owned Investment Subs.9 Such a subsidiary may be prohibited from investing in a CoInvestment Transaction with a Regulated Fund (other than its parent) or any Affiliated Fund because it would be a company controlled by its parent Regulated Fund for purposes of section 57(a)(4) and rule 17d–1. Applicants request that each Wholly-Owned Fund will have a financial interest in any CoInvestment Transaction, other than indirectly through share ownership in one of the Regulated Funds. 7 FS and the Affiliated Fund Advisor are each a subsidiary of Franklin Square Holdings, L.P., a Pennsylvania limited partnership (‘‘FS Investments’’). FS Investments is a leading asset manager dedicated to helping individuals, financial professionals and institutions design better portfolios. FS Investments currently owns a majority of each of FS and the Affiliated Funds Advisor. FS Investments does not currently offer investment advisory services to any person and is not expected to do so in the future. Applicants state that as a result, FS Investments has not been included as an Applicant. 8 ‘‘FS Proprietary Account’’ means any account of an Adviser or its affiliates or any company that is a direct or indirect, wholly- or majority-owned subsidiary of the Adviser or its affiliates, which, from time to time, may hold various financial assets in a principal capacity. 9 ‘‘Wholly-Owned Investment Sub’’ means an entity (i) that is wholly-owned by a Regulated Fund (with such Regulated Fund at all times holding, beneficially and of record, 100% of the voting and economic interests); (ii) whose sole business purpose is to hold one or more investments on behalf of such Regulated Fund (and, in the case of a SBIC Subsidiary (defined below), maintain a license under the SBA Act (defined below) and issue debentures guaranteed by the SBA (defined below)); (iii) with respect to which such Regulated Fund’s Board has the sole authority to make all determinations with respect to the entity’s participation under the Conditions; and (iv) that would be an investment company but for section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Act. ‘‘SBIC Subsidiary’’ means a Wholly-Owned Investment Sub that is licensed by the Small Business Administration (the ‘‘SBA’’) to operate under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, as amended, (the ‘‘SBA Act’’) as a small business investment company. PO 00000 Frm 00080 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Investment Sub be permitted to participate in Co-Investment Transactions in lieu of the Regulated Fund that owns it and that the WhollyOwned Investment Sub’s participation in any such transaction be treated, for purposes of the Order, as though the parent Regulated Fund were participating directly. Applicants’ Representations A. Allocation Process 7. Applicants represent that the Adviser has established processes for allocating initial investment opportunities, opportunities for subsequent investments in an issuer and dispositions of securities holdings reasonably designed to treat all clients fairly and equitably. Further, Applicants represent that these processes will be extended and modified in a manner reasonably designed to ensure that the additional transactions permitted under the Order will both (i) be fair and equitable to the Regulated Funds and the Affiliated Funds and (ii) comply with the Conditions. 8. Opportunities for Potential CoInvestment Transactions may arise when investment advisory personnel of an Adviser becomes aware of investment opportunities that may be appropriate for one or more Regulated Funds and one or more Affiliated Funds. If the requested Order is granted, the Adviser will establish, maintain and implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that, when such opportunities arise, the Adviser to the relevant Regulated Funds is promptly notified and receives the same information about the opportunity as any other Adviser considering the opportunity for its clients. In particular, consistent with Condition 1, if a Potential Co-Investment Transaction falls within the then-current Objectives and Strategies 10 and any BoardEstablished Criteria 11 of a Regulated 10 ‘‘Objectives and Strategies’’ means a Regulated Fund’s investment objectives and strategies, as described in its most current registration statement on Form N–2, other current filings with the Commission under the Securities Act of 1933 (the ‘‘Securities Act’’) or under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and its most current report to stockholders. 11 ‘‘Board-Established Criteria’’ means criteria that the Board of a Regulated Fund may establish from time to time to describe the characteristics of Potential Co-Investment Transactions regarding which the Adviser to the Regulated Fund should be notified under Condition 1. The Board-Established Criteria will be consistent with the Regulated Fund’s Objectives and Strategies. If no BoardEstablished Criteria are in effect, then the Regulated Fund’s Adviser will be notified of all Potential CoInvestment Transactions that fall within the Regulated Fund’s then-current Objectives and Strategies. Board-Established Criteria will be E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Fund, the policies and procedures will require that the Adviser to such Regulated Fund receives sufficient information to allow such Adviser’s investment committee to make its independent determination and recommendations under the Conditions. The Adviser to each applicable Regulated Fund will then make an independent determination of the appropriateness of the investment for the Regulated Fund in light of the Regulated Fund’s then–current circumstances. If the Adviser to a Regulated Fund deems the Regulated Fund’s participation in any Potential Co-Investment Transaction to be appropriate, it will formulate a recommendation regarding the proposed order amount for the Regulated Fund. 9. Applicants state that, for each Regulated Fund and Affiliated Fund whose Adviser recommends participating in a Potential CoInvestment Transaction, the Adviser’s investment committee will approve an investment amount. Prior to the External Submission (as defined below), each proposed order amount may be reviewed and adjusted, in accordance with the Adviser’s written allocation policies and procedures, by the Adviser’s investment committee.12 The order of a Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund resulting from this process is referred to as its ‘‘Internal Order’’. The Internal Order will be submitted for approval by the Required Majority of any participating Regulated Funds in accordance with the Conditions.13 10. If the aggregate Internal Orders for a Potential Co-Investment Transaction do not exceed the size of the investment opportunity immediately prior to the submission of the orders to the underwriter, broker, dealer or issuer, as objective and testable, meaning that they will be based on observable information, such as industry/ sector of the issuer, minimum EBITDA of the issuer, asset class of the investment opportunity or required commitment size, and not on characteristics that involve a discretionary assessment. The Adviser to the Regulated Fund may from time to time recommend criteria for the Board’s consideration, but Board-Established Criteria will only become effective if approved by a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Independent Trustees of a Regulated Fund may at any time rescind, suspend or qualify its approval of any Board-Established Criteria, though Applicants anticipate that, under normal circumstances, the Board would not modify these criteria more often than quarterly. 12 The reason for any such adjustment to a proposed order amount will be documented in writing and preserved in the records of the Advisers. 13 ‘‘Required Majority’’ means a required majority, as defined in section 57(o) of the Act. In the case of a Regulated Fund that is a registered closed-end fund, the Board members that make up the Required Majority will be determined as if the Regulated Fund were a BDC subject to section 57(o). VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 applicable (the ‘‘External Submission’’), then each Internal Order will be fulfilled as placed. If, on the other hand, the aggregate Internal Orders for a Potential Co-Investment Transaction exceed the size of the investment opportunity immediately prior to the External Submission, then the allocation of the opportunity will be made pro rata on the basis of the size of the Internal Orders.14 If, subsequent to such External Submission, the size of the opportunity is increased or decreased, or if the terms of such opportunity, or the facts and circumstances applicable to the Regulated Funds’ or the Affiliated Fund’s consideration of the opportunity change, the participants will be permitted to submit revised Internal Orders in accordance with written allocation policies and procedures that the Advisers will establish, implement and maintain.15 B. Follow-On Investments 11. Applicants state that from time to time the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds may have opportunities to make Follow-On Investments 16 in an issuer in which a Regulated Fund and one or more other Regulated Funds and/or Affiliated Funds previously have invested. 12. Applicants propose that FollowOn Investments would be divided into two categories depending on whether the prior investment was a CoInvestment Transaction or a PreBoarding Investment.17 If the Regulated 14 Each Adviser will maintain records of all proposed order amounts, Internal Orders and External Submissions in conjunction with Potential Co-Investment Transactions. Each applicable Adviser will provide the Eligible Trustees with information concerning the Affiliated Fund’s and Regulated Funds’ order sizes to assist the Eligible Trustees with their review of the applicable Regulated Fund’s investments for compliance with the Conditions. ‘‘Eligible Trustees’’ means, with respect to a Regulated Fund and a Potential CoInvestment Transaction, the members of the Regulated Fund’s Board eligible to vote on that Potential Co-Investment Transaction under section 57(o) of the Act (treating any registered investment company or series thereof as a BDC for this purpose). 15 The Board of the Regulated Fund will then either approve or disapprove of the investment opportunity in accordance with Condition 2, 6, 7, 8 or 9, as applicable. 16 ‘‘Follow-On Investment’’ means an additional investment in the same issuer, including, but not limited to, through the exercise of warrants, conversion privileges or other rights to purchase securities of the issuer. 17 ‘‘Pre-Boarding Investments’’ are investments in an issuer held by a Regulated Fund as well as one or more Affiliated Funds and/or one or more other Regulated Funds that were acquired prior to participating in any Co-Investment Transaction: (i) In transactions in which the only term negotiated by or on behalf of such funds was price in reliance on one of the JT No-Action Letters (defined below); or (ii) in transactions occurring at least 90 days PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 44119 Funds and Affiliated Fund had previously participated in a CoInvestment Transaction with respect to the issuer, then the terms and approval of the Follow-On Investment would be subject to the Standard Review FollowOns described in Condition 8. If the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund have not previously participated in a Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer but hold a Pre-Boarding Investment, then the terms and approval of the Follow-On Investment would be subject to the Enhanced-Review FollowOns described in Condition 9. All Enhanced Review Follow-Ons require the approval of the Required Majority. For a given issuer, the participating Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund would need to comply with the requirements of Enhanced-Review Follow-Ons only for the first CoInvestment Transaction. Subsequent CoInvestment Transactions with respect to the issuer would be governed by the requirements of Standard Review Follow-Ons. 13. A Regulated Fund would be permitted to invest in Standard Review Follow-Ons either with the approval of the Required Majority under Condition 8(c) or without Board approval under Condition 8(b) if it is (i) a Pro Rata Follow-On Investment 18 or (ii) a NonNegotiated Follow-On Investment.19 Applicants believe that these Pro Rata and Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investments do not present a significant opportunity for overreaching on the part of any Adviser and thus do not warrant the time or the attention of the Board. Pro Rata Follow-On Investments and apart and without coordination between the Regulated Fund and any Affiliated Fund or other Regulated Fund. 18 A ‘‘Pro Rata Follow-On Investment’’ is a Follow-On Investment (i) in which the participation of each Affiliated Fund and each Regulated Fund is proportionate to its outstanding investments in the issuer or security, as appropriate, immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment, and (ii) in the case of a Regulated Fund, a majority of the Board has approved the Regulated Fund’s participation in the pro rata Follow-On Investments as being in the best interests of the Regulated Fund. The Regulated Fund’s Board may refuse to approve, or at any time rescind, suspend or qualify, its approval of Pro Rata Follow-On Investments, in which case all subsequent Follow-On Investments will be submitted to the Regulated Fund’s Eligible Trustees in accordance with Condition 8(c). 19 A ‘‘Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investment’’ is a Follow-On Investment in which a Regulated Fund participates together with one or more Affiliated Funds and/or one or more other Regulated Funds (i) in which the only term negotiated by or on behalf of the funds is price and (ii) with respect to which, if the transaction were considered on its own, the funds would be entitled to rely on one of the JT NoAction Letters. ‘‘JT No-Action Letters’’ means SMC Capital, Inc., SEC No-Action Letter (pub. avail. Sept. 5, 1995) and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, SEC No-Action Letter (pub. avail. June 7, 2000). E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 44120 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investments remain subject to the Board’s periodic review in accordance with Condition 10. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES C. Dispositions 14. Applicants propose that Dispositions 20 would be divided into two categories. If the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund holding investments in the issuer have previously participated in a CoInvestment Transaction with respect to the issuer, then the terms and approval of the Disposition would be subject to the Standard Review Dispositions described in Condition 6. If the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund have not previously participated in a Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer but hold a Pre-Boarding Investment, then the terms and approval of the Disposition would be subject to the Enhanced Review Dispositions described in Condition 7. Subsequent Dispositions with respect to the same issuer would be governed by Condition 6 under the Standard Review Dispositions.21 15. A Regulated Fund may participate in a Standard Review Disposition either with the approval of the Required Majority under Condition 6(d) or without Board approval under Condition 6(c) if (i) the Disposition is a Pro Rata Disposition 22 or (ii) the securities are Tradable Securities 23 and 20 ‘‘Disposition’’ means the sale, exchange or other disposition of an interest in a security of an issuer. 21 However, with respect to an issuer, if a Regulated Fund’s first Co-Investment Transaction is an Enhanced Review Disposition, and the Regulated Fund does not dispose of its entire position in the Enhanced Review Disposition, then before such Regulated Fund may complete its first Standard Review Follow-On in such issuer, the Eligible Trustees must review the proposed Follow-On Investment not only on a stand-alone basis but also in relation to the total economic exposure in such issuer (i.e., in combination with the portion of the Pre-Boarding Investment not disposed of in the Enhanced Review Disposition), and the other terms of the investments. This additional review would be required because such findings would not have been required in connection with the prior Enhanced Review Disposition, but they would have been required had the first Co-Investment Transaction been an Enhanced Review Follow-On. 22 A ‘‘Pro Rata Disposition’’ is a Disposition (i) in which the participation of each Affiliated Fund and each Regulated Fund is proportionate to its outstanding investment in the security subject to Disposition immediately preceding the Disposition; and (ii) in the case of a Regulated Fund, a majority of the Board has approved the Regulated Fund’s participation in pro rata Dispositions as being in the best interests of the Regulated Fund. The Regulated Fund’s Board may refuse to approve, or at any time rescind, suspend or qualify, its approval of Pro Rata Dispositions, in which case all subsequent Dispositions will be submitted to the Regulated Fund’s Eligible Trustees. 23 ‘‘Tradable Security’’ means a security that meets the following criteria at the time of VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 the Disposition meets the other requirements of Condition 6(c)(ii). Pro Rata Dispositions and Dispositions of a Tradable Security remain subject to the Board’s periodic review in accordance with Condition 10. D. Delayed Settlement 16. Applicants represent that under the terms and Conditions of the application, all Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds participating in a CoInvestment Transaction will invest at the same time, for the same price and with the same terms, conditions, class, registration rights and any other rights, so that none of them receives terms more favorable than any other. However, the settlement date for the Affiliated Fund in a Co-Investment Transaction may occur up to ten business days after the settlement date for a Regulated Fund, and vice versa. Nevertheless, in all cases, (i) the date on which the commitment of the Affiliated Funds and Regulated Funds is made will be the same even where the settlement date is not and (ii) the earliest settlement date and the latest settlement date of any Affiliated Fund or Regulated Fund participating in the transaction will occur within ten business days of each other. E. Holders 17. Under Condition 15, if an Adviser, its principals, or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Adviser or its principals, and the Affiliated Fund (collectively, the ‘‘Holders’’) own in the aggregate more than 25 percent of the outstanding voting shares of a Regulated Fund (the ‘‘Shares’’), then the Holders will vote such Shares as directed by an independent third party when voting on matters specified in the Condition. Applicants believe that this Condition will ensure that the Independent Trustees will act independently in evaluating Co-Investment Transactions, because the ability of an Adviser or its principals to influence the Independent Trustees by a suggestion, explicit or implied, that the Independent Trustees Disposition: (i) It trades on a national securities exchange or designated offshore securities market as defined in rule 902(b) under the Securities Act; (ii) it is not subject to restrictive agreements with the issuer or other security holders; and (iii) it trades with sufficient volume and liquidity (findings as to which are documented by the Advisers to any Regulated Funds holding investments in the issuer and retained for the life of the Regulated Fund) to allow each Regulated Fund to dispose of its entire position remaining after the proposed Disposition within a short period of time not exceeding 30 days at approximately the value (as defined by section 2(a)(41) of the Act) at which the Regulated Fund has valued the investment. PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 can be removed will be limited significantly. The Independent Trustees shall evaluate and approve any independent party, taking into account its qualifications, reputation for independence, cost to the shareholders, and other factors that they deem relevant. Applicants’ Legal Analysis 1. Section 17(d) of the Act and rule 17d–1 under the Act prohibit participation by a registered investment company and an affiliated person in any ‘‘joint enterprise or other joint arrangement or profit-sharing plan,’’ as defined in the rule, without prior approval by the Commission by order upon application. Section 17(d) of the Act and rule 17d–1 under the Act are applicable to Regulated Funds that are registered closed-end investment companies. 2. Similarly, with regard to BDCs, section 57(a)(4) of the Act generally prohibits certain persons specified in section 57(b) from participating in joint transactions with the BDC or a company controlled by the BDC in contravention of rules as prescribed by the Commission. Section 57(i) of the Act provides that, until the Commission prescribes rules under section 57(a)(4), the Commission’s rules under section 17(d) of the Act applicable to registered closed-end investment companies will be deemed to apply to transactions subject to section 57(a)(4). Because the Commission has not adopted any rules under section 57(a)(4), rule 17d–1 also applies to joint transactions with Regulated Funds that are BDCs. 3. Co-Investment Transactions are prohibited by either or both of rule 17d– 1 and section 57(a)(4) without a prior exemptive order of the Commission to the extent that the Affiliated Funds and the Regulated Funds participating in such transaction fall within the category of persons described by rule 17d–1 and/ or section 57(b), as modified by rule 57b–1 thereunder, as applicable, vis-a`vis each participating Regulated Fund. Each of the participating Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds may be deemed to be affiliated persons vis-a`-vis a Regulated Fund within the meaning of section 2(a)(3) by reason of common control because (i) the Affiliated Fund Advisor manages, and may be deemed to control, the Existing Affiliated Fund and any other Affiliated Fund will be managed by, and may be deemed to be controlled by, an Adviser to Affiliated Funds; (ii) FS is the investment adviser to, and may be deemed to control, the Fund and an Adviser to the Regulated Funds will be the investment adviser to, and may be deemed to control, any E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices Future Regulated Fund; and (iii) the Advisers to Affiliated Funds and the Advisers to Regulated Funds are under common control. Thus, each of the Affiliated Funds could be deemed to be a person related to the Regulated Funds in a manner described by section 57(b) and related to the other Regulated Funds in a manner described by rule 17d–1; and therefore the prohibitions of rule 17d–1 and section 57(a)(4) would apply respectively to prohibit the Affiliated Funds from participating in Co-Investment Transactions with the Regulated Funds. Each Regulated Fund would also be related to each other Regulated Fund in a manner described by section 57(b) or rule 17d–1, as applicable, and thus prohibited from participating in Co-Investment Transactions with each other. In addition, because the FS Proprietary Accounts are controlled by the Adviser or its affiliates and, therefore, may be under common control with the Fund, any future Advisers, and any Future Regulated Funds, the FS Proprietary Accounts could be deemed to be persons related to the Regulated Funds (or a company controlled by the Regulated Funds) in a manner described by section 17(d) or section 57(b) and also prohibited from participating in the Co-Investment Program. 4. In passing upon applications under rule 17d–1, the Commission considers whether the company’s participation in the joint transaction is consistent with the provisions, policies, and purposes of the Act and the extent to which such participation is on a basis different from or less advantageous than that of other participants. 5. Applicants state that in the absence of the requested relief, in many circumstances the Regulated Funds would be limited in their ability to participate in attractive and appropriate investment opportunities. Applicants state that, as required by rule 17d–1(b), the Conditions ensure that the terms on which Co-Investment Transactions may be made will be consistent with the participation of the Regulated Funds being on a basis that it is neither different from nor less advantageous than other participants, thus protecting the equity holders of any participant from being disadvantaged. Applicants further state that the Conditions ensure that all Co-Investment Transactions are reasonable and fair to the Regulated Funds and their shareholders and do not involve overreaching by any person concerned, including the Advisers. Applicants state that the Regulated Funds’ participation in the CoInvestment Transactions in accordance with the Conditions will be consistent VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 with the provisions, policies, and purposes of the Act and would be done in a manner that is not different from, or less advantageous than, that of other participants. Applicants’ Conditions Applicants agree that the Order shall be subject to the following Conditions: 1. Identification and Referral of Potential Co-Investment Transactions. (a) The Advisers will establish, maintain and implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that each Adviser is promptly notified of all Potential Co-Investment Transactions that fall within the thencurrent Objectives and Strategies and Board-Established Criteria of any Regulated Fund the Adviser manages. (b) When an Adviser to a Regulated Fund is notified of a Potential CoInvestment Transaction under Condition 1(a), the Adviser will make an independent determination of the appropriateness of the investment for the Regulated Fund in light of the Regulated Fund’s then-current circumstances. 2. Board Approvals of Co-Investment Transactions. (a) If an Adviser deems a Regulated Fund’s participation in any Potential Co-Investment Transaction to be appropriate for the Regulated Fund, it will then determine an appropriate level of investment for the Regulated Fund. (b) If the aggregate amount recommended by the Advisers to be invested in the Potential Co-Investment Transaction by the participating Regulated Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund, collectively, exceeds the amount of the investment opportunity, the investment opportunity will be allocated among them pro rata based on the size of the Internal Orders, as described in section III.A.1.b. of the application. Each Adviser to a participating Regulated Fund will promptly notify and provide the Eligible Trustees with information concerning the Affiliated Fund’s and Regulated Funds’ order sizes to assist the Eligible Trustees with their review of the applicable Regulated Fund’s investments for compliance with these Conditions. (c) After making the determinations required in Condition 1(b) above, each Adviser to a participating Regulated Fund will distribute written information concerning the Potential Co-Investment Transaction (including the amount proposed to be invested by each participating Regulated Fund and each participating Affiliated Fund) to the Eligible Trustees of its participating Regulated Fund(s) for their PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 44121 consideration. A Regulated Fund will enter into a Co-Investment Transaction with one or more other Regulated Funds or the Affiliated Fund only if, prior to the Regulated Fund’s participation in the Potential Co-Investment Transaction, a Required Majority concludes that: (i) The terms of the transaction, including the consideration to be paid, are reasonable and fair to the Regulated Fund and its shareholders and do not involve overreaching in respect of the Regulated Fund or its shareholders on the part of any person concerned; (ii) the transaction is consistent with: (A) The interests of the Regulated Fund’s shareholders; and (B) the Regulated Fund’s then-current Objectives and Strategies; (iii) the investment by any other Regulated Fund(s) or Affiliated Fund(s) would not disadvantage the Regulated Fund, and participation by the Regulated Fund would not be on a basis different from, or less advantageous than, that of any other Regulated Fund(s) or Affiliated Fund(s) participating in the transaction; provided that the Required Majority shall not be prohibited from reaching the conclusions required by this Condition 2(c)(iii) if: (A) The settlement date for another Regulated Fund or an Affiliated Fund in a Co-Investment Transaction is later than the settlement date for the Regulated Fund by no more than ten business days or earlier than the settlement date for the Regulated Fund by no more than ten business days, in either case, so long as: (x) The date on which the commitment of the Affiliated Fund and Regulated Funds is made is the same; and (y) the earliest settlement date and the latest settlement date of any Affiliated Fund or Regulated Fund participating in the transaction will occur within ten business days of each other; or (B) any other Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund, but not the Regulated Fund itself, gains the right to nominate a director for election to a portfolio company’s board of directors, the right to have a board observer or any similar right to participate in the governance or management of the portfolio company so long as: (x) The Eligible Trustees will have the right to ratify the selection of such director or board observer, if any; (y) the Adviser agrees to, and does, provide periodic reports to the Regulated Fund’s Board with respect to the actions of such director or the information received by such board observer or obtained through the exercise of any similar right to participate in the governance or E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 44122 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES management of the portfolio company; and (z) any fees or other compensation that any other Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund or any affiliated person of any other Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund receives in connection with the right of one or more Regulated Funds or Affiliated Funds to nominate a director or appoint a board observer or otherwise to participate in the governance or management of the portfolio company will be shared proportionately among any participating Affiliated Funds (who may, in turn, share their portion with their affiliated persons) and any participating Regulated Fund(s) in accordance with the amount of each such party’s investment; and (iv) the proposed investment by the Regulated Fund will not involve compensation, remuneration or a direct or indirect 24 financial benefit to the Advisers, any other Regulated Fund, the Affiliated Fund or any affiliated person of any of them (other than the parties to the Co-Investment Transaction), except (A) to the extent permitted by Condition 14, (B) to the extent permitted by section 17(e) or 57(k), as applicable, (C) indirectly, as a result of an interest in the securities issued by one of the parties to the Co-Investment Transaction, or (D) in the case of fees or other compensation described in Condition 2(c)(iii)(B)(z). 3. Right to Decline. Each Regulated Fund has the right to decline to participate in any Potential CoInvestment Transaction or to invest less than the amount proposed. 4. General Limitation. Except for Follow-On Investments made in accordance with Conditions 8 and 9 below,25 a Regulated Fund will not invest in reliance on the Order in any issuer in which a Related Party has an investment.26 24 For example, procuring the Regulated Fund’s investment in a Potential Co-Investment Transaction to permit an affiliate to complete or obtain better terms in a separate transaction would constitute an indirect financial benefit. 25 This exception applies only to Follow-On Investments by a Regulated Fund in issuers in which that Regulated Fund already holds investments. 26 ‘‘Related Party’’ means (i) any Close Affiliate and (ii) in respect of matters as to which any Adviser has knowledge, any Remote Affiliate. ‘‘Close Affiliate’’ means the Advisers, the Regulated Funds, the Affiliated Fund and any other person described in section 57(b) (after giving effect to rule 57b–1) in respect of any Regulated Fund (treating any registered investment company or series thereof as a BDC for this purpose) except for limited partners included solely by reason of the reference in section 57(b) to section 2(a)(3)(D). ‘‘Remote Affiliate’’ means any person described in section 57(e) in respect of any Regulated Fund (treating any registered investment company or series thereof as a BDC for this purpose) and any limited partner VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 5. Same Terms and Conditions. A Regulated Fund will not participate in any Potential Co-Investment Transaction unless (i) the terms, conditions, price, class of securities to be purchased, date on which the commitment is entered into and registration rights (if any) will be the same for each participating Regulated Fund and Affiliated Fund and (ii) the earliest settlement date and the latest settlement date of any participating Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will occur as close in time as practicable and in no event more than ten business days apart. The grant to one or more Regulated Funds or Affiliated Funds, but not the respective Regulated Fund, of the right to nominate a director for election to a portfolio company’s board of directors, the right to have an observer on the board of directors or similar rights to participate in the governance or management of the portfolio company will not be interpreted so as to violate this Condition 5, if Condition 2(c)(iii)(B) is met. 6. Standard Review Dispositions. (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund elects to sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of an interest in a security and one or more Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds have previously participated in a CoInvestment Transaction with respect to the issuer, then: (i) The Adviser to such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund 27 will notify each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer of the proposed Disposition at the earliest practical time; and (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to participation by such Regulated Fund in the Disposition. (b) Same Terms and Conditions. Each Regulated Fund will have the right to participate in such Disposition on a proportionate basis, at the same price and on the same terms and conditions as those applicable to the Affiliated Fund and any other Regulated Fund. (c) No Board Approval Required. A Regulated Fund may participate in such a Disposition without obtaining prior approval of the Required Majority if: (i) (A) The participation of each Regulated Fund and Affiliated Fund in such Disposition is proportionate to its holding 5% or more of the relevant limited partner interests that would be a Close Affiliate but for the exclusion in that definition. 27 Any FS Proprietary Account that is not advised by the Adviser is itself deemed to be an Adviser for purposes of Conditions 6(a)(i), 7(a)(i), 8(a)(i) and 9(a)(i). PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 then-current holding of the security (or securities) of the issuer that is (or are) the subject of the Disposition; 28 (B) the Board of the Regulated Fund has approved as being in the best interests of the Regulated Fund the ability to participate in such Dispositions on a pro rata basis (as described in greater detail in the application); and (C) the Board of the Regulated Fund is provided on a quarterly basis with a list of all Dispositions made in accordance with this Condition; or (ii) each security is a Tradable Security and (A) the Disposition is not to the issuer or any affiliated person of the issuer; and (B) the security is sold for cash in a transaction in which the only term negotiated by or on behalf of the participating Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds is price. (d) Standard Board Approval. In all other cases, the Adviser will provide its written recommendation as to the Regulated Fund’s participation to the Eligible Trustees and the Regulated Fund will participate in such Disposition solely to the extent that a Required Majority determines that it is in the Regulated Fund’s best interests. 7. Enhanced Review Dispositions. (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund elects to sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of a Pre-Boarding Investment in a Potential Co-Investment Transaction and the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund have not previously participated in a Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer: (i) The Adviser to such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will notify each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer of the proposed Disposition at the earliest practical time; (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to participation by such Regulated Fund in the Disposition; and (iii) the Advisers will provide to the Board of each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer all information relating to the existing investments in the issuer of the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund, including the terms of such investments and how they were made, that is necessary for the Required Majority to make the findings required by this Condition. (b) Enhanced Board Approval. The Adviser will provide its written recommendation as to the Regulated Fund’s participation to the Eligible 28 In the case of any Disposition, proportionality will be measured by each participating Regulated Fund’s and Affiliated Fund’s outstanding investment in the security in question immediately preceding the Disposition. E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Trustees, and the Regulated Fund will participate in such Disposition solely to the extent that a Required Majority determines that: (i) The Disposition complies with Condition 2(c)(i), (ii), (iii)(A), and (iv); and (ii) the making and holding of the PreBoarding Investments were not prohibited by section 57 or rule 17d–1, as applicable, and records the basis for the finding in the Board minutes. (c) Additional Requirements. The Disposition may only be completed in reliance on the Order if: (i) Same Terms and Conditions. Each Regulated Fund has the right to participate in such Disposition on a proportionate basis, at the same price and on the same terms and Conditions as those applicable to the Affiliated Fund and any other Regulated Fund; (ii) Original Investments. All of the Affiliated Fund’s and Regulated Funds’ investments in the issuer are PreBoarding Investments; (iii) Advice of counsel. Independent counsel to the Board advises that the making and holding of the investments in the Pre-Boarding Investments were not prohibited by section 57 (as modified by rule 57b–1) or rule 17d–1, as applicable; (iv) Multiple Classes of Securities. All Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds that hold Pre-Boarding Investments in the issuer immediately before the time of completion of the Co-Investment Transaction hold the same security or securities of the issuer. For the purpose of determining whether the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund hold the same security or securities, they may disregard any security held by some but not all of them if, prior to relying on the Order, the Required Majority is presented with all information necessary to make a finding, and finds, that: (x) Any Regulated Fund’s or Affiliated Fund’s holding of a different class of securities (including for this purpose a security with a different maturity date) is immaterial 29 in amount, including immaterial relative to the size of the issuer; and (y) the Board records the basis for any such finding in its minutes. In addition, securities that differ only in respect of issuance date, 29 In determining whether a holding is ‘‘immaterial’’ for purposes of the Order, the Required Majority will consider whether the nature and extent of the interest in the transaction or arrangement is sufficiently small that a reasonable person would not believe that the interest affected the determination of whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement or the terms of the transaction or arrangement. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 currency, or denominations may be treated as the same security; and (v) No control. The Affiliated Fund, the other Regulated Funds and their affiliated persons (within the meaning of section 2(a)(3)(C) of the Act), individually or in the aggregate, do not control the issuer of the securities (within the meaning of section 2(a)(9) of the Act). 8. Standard Review Follow-Ons. (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund desires to make a Follow-On Investment in an issuer and the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds holding investments in the issuer previously participated in a CoInvestment Transaction with respect to the issuer: (i) The Adviser to each such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will notify each Regulated Fund that holds securities of the portfolio company of the proposed transaction at the earliest practical time; and (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to the proposed participation, including the amount of the proposed investment, by such Regulated Fund. (b) No Board Approval Required. A Regulated Fund may participate in the Follow-On Investment without obtaining prior approval of the Required Majority if: (i) (A) The proposed participation of each Regulated Fund and each Affiliated Fund in such investment is proportionate to its outstanding investments in the issuer or the security at issue, as appropriate,30 immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment; and (B) the Board of the Regulated Fund has approved as being in the best interests of the Regulated Fund the ability to participate in Follow-On Investments on a pro rata basis (as described in greater detail in the application); or (ii) it is a Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investment. (c) Standard Board Approval. In all other cases, the Adviser will provide its 30 To the extent that a Follow-On Investment opportunity is in a security or arises in respect of a security held by the participating Regulated Funds and any Affiliated Fund, proportionality will be measured by each participating Regulated Fund’s and Affiliated Fund’s outstanding investment in the security in question immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment using the most recent available valuation thereof. To the extent that a Follow-On Investment opportunity relates to an opportunity to invest in a security that is not in respect of any security held by any of the participating Regulated Funds or any Affiliated Fund, proportionality will be measured by each participating Regulated Fund’s and Affiliated Fund’s outstanding investment in the issuer immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment using the most recent available valuation thereof. PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 44123 written recommendation as to the Regulated Fund’s participation to the Eligible Trustees and the Regulated Fund will participate in such Follow-On Investment solely to the extent that a Required Majority makes the determinations set forth in Condition 2(c). If the only previous Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer was an Enhanced Review Disposition the Eligible Trustees must complete this review of the proposed Follow-On Investment both on a stand-alone basis and together with the Pre-Boarding Investments in relation to the total economic exposure and other terms of the investment. (d) Allocation. If, with respect to any such Follow-On Investment: (i) The amount of the opportunity proposed to be made available to any Regulated Fund is not based on the Regulated Funds’ and the Affiliated Fund’s outstanding investments in the issuer or the security at issue, as appropriate, immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment; and (ii) the aggregate amount recommended by the Advisers to be invested in the Follow-On Investment by the participating Regulated Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund, collectively, exceeds the amount of the investment opportunity, then the Follow-On Investment opportunity will be allocated among them pro rata based on the size of the Internal Orders, as described in section III.A.1.b. of the application. (e) Other Conditions. The acquisition of Follow-On Investments as permitted by this Condition will be considered a Co-Investment Transaction for all purposes and subject to the other Conditions set forth in the application. 9. Enhanced Review Follow-Ons. (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund desires to make a Follow-On Investment in an issuer that is a Potential Co-Investment Transaction and the Regulated Funds and any Affiliated Fund holding investments in the issuer have not previously participated in a Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer: (i) The Adviser to each such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will notify each Regulated Fund that holds securities of the portfolio company of the proposed transaction at the earliest practical time; (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to the proposed participation, including the amount of the proposed investment, by such Regulated Fund; and E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES 44124 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices (iii) the Advisers will provide to the Board of each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer all information relating to the existing investments in the issuer of the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund, including the terms of such investments and how they were made, that is necessary for the Required Majority to make the findings required by this Condition. (b) Enhanced Board Approval. The Adviser will provide its written recommendation as to the Regulated Fund’s participation to the Eligible Trustees, and the Regulated Fund will participate in such Follow-On Investment solely to the extent that a Required Majority reviews the proposed Follow-On Investment both on a standalone basis and together with the PreBoarding Investments in relation to the total economic exposure and other terms and makes the determinations set forth in Condition 2(c). In addition, the Follow-On Investment may only be completed in reliance on the Order if the Required Majority of each participating Regulated Fund determines that the making and holding of the Pre-Boarding Investments were not prohibited by section 57 (as modified by rule 57b–1) or rule 17d–1, as applicable. The basis for the Board’s findings will be recorded in its minutes. (c) Additional Requirements. The Follow-On Investment may only be completed in reliance on the Order if: (i) Original Investments. All of the Affiliated Fund’s and Regulated Funds’ investments in the issuer are PreBoarding Investments; (ii) Advice of counsel. Independent counsel to the Board advises that the making and holding of the investments in the Pre-Boarding Investments were not prohibited by section 57 (as modified by rule 57b–1) or rule 17d–1, as applicable; (iii) Multiple Classes of Securities. All Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds that hold Pre-Boarding Investments in the issuer immediately before the time of completion of the Co-Investment Transaction hold the same security or securities of the issuer. For the purpose of determining whether the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund hold the same security or securities, they may disregard any security held by some but not all of them if, prior to relying on the Order, the Required Majority is presented with all information necessary to make a finding, and finds, that: (x) Any Regulated Fund’s or Affiliated Fund’s holding of a different class of securities (including for this purpose a security with a different maturity date) is immaterial in amount, VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 including immaterial relative to the size of the issuer; and (y) the Board records the basis for any such finding in its minutes. In addition, securities that differ only in respect of issuance date, currency, or denominations may be treated as the same security; and (iv) No control. The Affiliated Fund, the other Regulated Funds and their affiliated persons (within the meaning of section 2(a)(3)(C) of the Act), individually or in the aggregate, do not control the issuer of the securities (within the meaning of section 2(a)(9) of the Act). (d) Allocation. If, with respect to any such Follow-On Investment: (i) The amount of the opportunity proposed to be made available to any Regulated Fund is not based on the Regulated Funds’ and the Affiliated Fund’s outstanding investments in the issuer or the security at issue, as appropriate, immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment; and (ii) the aggregate amount recommended by the Advisers to be invested in the Follow-On Investment by the participating Regulated Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund, collectively, exceeds the amount of the investment opportunity, then the Follow-On Investment opportunity will be allocated among them pro rata based on the size of the Internal Orders, as described in section III.A.1.b of the application. (e) Other Conditions. The acquisition of Follow-On Investments as permitted by this Condition will be considered a Co-Investment Transaction for all purposes and subject to the other Conditions set forth in the application. 10. Board Reporting, Compliance and Annual Re-Approval. (a) Each Adviser to a Regulated Fund will present to the Board of each Regulated Fund, on a quarterly basis, and at such other times as the Board may request, (i) a record of all investments in Potential Co-Investment Transactions made by any of the other Regulated Funds or any Affiliated Fund during the preceding quarter that fell within the Regulated Fund’s thencurrent Objectives and Strategies and Board-Established Criteria that were not made available to the Regulated Fund, and an explanation of why such investment opportunities were not made available to the Regulated Fund; (ii) a record of all Follow-On Investments in and Dispositions of investments in any issuer in which the Regulated Fund holds any investments by any Affiliated Fund or other Regulated Fund during the prior quarter; and (iii) all information concerning Potential CoInvestment Transactions and Co- PO 00000 Frm 00086 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Investment Transactions, including investments made by other Regulated Funds or any Affiliated Fund that the Regulated Fund considered but declined to participate in, so that the Independent Trustees, may determine whether all Potential Co-Investment Transactions and Co-Investment Transactions during the preceding quarter, including those investments that the Regulated Fund considered but declined to participate in, comply with the Conditions. (b) All information presented to the Regulated Fund’s Board pursuant to this Condition will be kept for the life of the Regulated Fund and at least two years thereafter, and will be subject to examination by the Commission and its staff. (c) Each Regulated Fund’s chief compliance officer, as defined in rule 38a–1(a)(4), will prepare an annual report for its Board each year that evaluates (and documents the basis of that evaluation) the Regulated Fund’s compliance with the terms and Conditions of the application and the procedures established to achieve such compliance. (d) The Independent Trustees will consider at least annually whether continued participation in new and existing Co-Investment Transactions is in the Regulated Fund’s best interests. 11. Record Keeping. Each Regulated Fund will maintain the records required by section 57(f)(3) of the Act as if each of the Regulated Funds were a BDC and each of the investments permitted under these Conditions were approved by the Required Majority under section 57(f). 12. Trustee Independence. No Independent Trustee of a Regulated Fund will also be a director, general partner, managing member or principal, or otherwise be an ‘‘affiliated person’’ (as defined in the Act) of any Affiliated Fund. 13. Expenses. The expenses, if any, associated with acquiring, holding or disposing of any securities acquired in a Co-Investment Transaction (including, without limitation, the expenses of the distribution of any such securities registered for sale under the Securities Act) will, to the extent not payable by the Advisers under their respective advisory agreements with the Regulated Funds and the Affiliated Fund, be shared by the Regulated Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund in proportion to the relative amounts of the securities held or being acquired or disposed of, as the case may be. E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / Notices 14. Transaction Fees.31 Any transaction fee (including break-up, structuring, monitoring or commitment fees but excluding brokerage or underwriting compensation permitted by section 17(e) or 57(k)) received in connection with any Co-Investment Transaction will be distributed to the participants on a pro rata basis based on the amounts they invested or committed, as the case may be, in such Co-Investment Transaction. If any transaction fee is to be held by an Adviser pending consummation of the transaction, the fee will be deposited into an account maintained by the Adviser at a bank or banks having the qualifications prescribed in section 26(a)(1), and the account will earn a competitive rate of interest that will also be divided pro rata among the participants. None of the Advisers, the Affiliated Fund, the other Regulated Funds or any affiliated person of the Affiliated Fund or the Regulated Funds will receive any additional compensation or remuneration of any kind as a result of or in connection with a Co-Investment Transaction other than (i) in the case of the Regulated Funds and the Affiliated Fund, the pro rata transaction fees described above and fees or other compensation described in Condition 2(c)(iii)(B)(z), (ii) brokerage or underwriting compensation permitted by section 17(e) or 57(k) or (iii) in the case of the Advisers, investment advisory compensation paid in accordance with investment advisory agreements between the applicable Regulated Fund(s) or Affiliated Fund(s) and its Adviser. 15. Independence. If the Holders own in the aggregate more than 25 percent of the Shares of a Regulated Fund, then the Holders will vote such Shares as directed by an independent third party when voting on (1) the election of directors; (2) the removal of one or more directors; or (3) any other matter under either the Act or applicable State law affecting the Board’s composition, size or manner of election. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, under delegated authority. J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2020–15685 Filed 7–20–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 31 Applicants are not requesting and the Commission is not providing any relief for transaction fees received in connection with any Co-Investment Transaction. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:42 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 250001 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–89325; File No. SR–CBOE– 2020–060] Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change Relating to Adopt Related Futures Cross (‘‘RFC’’) Orders July 15, 2020. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that on July 1, 2020, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘Cboe Options’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons. I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘Cboe Options’’) proposes to adopt Related Futures Cross (‘‘RFC’’) Orders. The text of the proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5. The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the Exchange’s website (https://www.cboe.com/ AboutCBOE/ CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx), at the Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, and at the Commission’s Public Reference Room. II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements. PO 00000 1 2 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 17 CFR 240.19b–4. Frm 00087 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 44125 A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 1. Purpose The Exchange proposes to adopt RFC orders on a permanent basis. On the Exchange’s trading floor, floor brokers execute crosses of option combos (i.e., synthetic futures) on the trading floor on behalf of market participants who were exchanging futures contracts for related options positions. Market participants enter into these exchanges in order to swap related exposures. For instance, if a market participant has positions in VIX options but would prefer to hold a corresponding position in VIX futures (such as, for example, to reduce margin or risk related to the option positions), that market participant may swap its VIX options positions with another market participant(s)’s VIX futures positions that have corresponding risk exposure.3 The Exchange understands from customers that the need to reduce risk is prevalent in VIX and SPX, particularly when the markets are volatile, and that they often have corresponding futures that could make these exchanges possible. For example, Cboe Futures Exchange LLC (‘‘CFE’’) permit these types of exchanges with respect to VIX futures pursuant to CFE Rule 414.4 A key element to these exchanges is that both of the option and future transactions must occur between the same market participants. When a floor broker represented the cross of the option contracts on the trading floor in accordance with applicable rules,5 while in-crowd market participants had the opportunity to bid or offer to participate on the trade, those participants generally declined to participate upon hearing that the cross was part of an exchange of related futures contracts. While not required by the Rules, the Rules permit in-crowd market participants to decline to accept contracts that would otherwise be allocated to them.6 The Exchange understands these market participants decline this allocation voluntarily, as 3 The transaction between the market participants for the futures positions occurs in accordance with the rules of the applicable designated contract market that lists the futures. See, e.g., Cboe Futures Exchange LLC Rule 414. 4 Currently, CME, which lists futures that correspond to SPX options, does not offer similar exchange opportunities. If CME implements a rule to permit them, the proposed rule change will permit TPHs to similar use RFC orders to swap exposure with corresponding futures that transact pursuant to CME’s rules. 5 See Rules 5.85 and 5.87. 6 See Rule 5.85(a)(2)(C)(iv). E:\FR\FM\21JYN1.SGM 21JYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44117-44125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15685]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Investment Company Act Release No. 33927; File No. 812-14987]


FS Global Credit Opportunities Fund, et al.

July 15, 2020.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Notice of application for an order under sections 17(d) and 57(i) 
of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ``Act'') and rule 17d-1 
under the Act to permit certain joint transactions otherwise prohibited 
by sections 17(d) and 57(a)(4) of the Act and rule 17d-1 under the Act.
    Summary of Application: Applicants request an order to permit 
certain business development companies (``BDCs'') \1\ and closed-end 
management investment companies to co-invest in portfolio companies 
with each other and with affiliated investment funds and accounts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Section 2(a)(48) defines a BDC to be any closed-end 
investment company that operates for the purpose of making 
investments in securities described in section 55(a)(1) through 
55(a)(3) and makes available significant managerial assistance with 
respect to the issuers of such securities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applicants: FS Global Credit Opportunities Fund (the ``Fund''); FS 
Global Advisor, LLC (``FS''); FS Tactical Opportunities Fund, L.P. 
(``Existing Affiliated Fund''); and FS Tactical Advisor, LLC 
(``Affiliated Fund Advisor'', and together with the Fund, FS and the 
Existing Affiliated Fund, the ``Applicants'').
    Filing Dates: The application was filed on December 17, 2018, and 
amended on May 20, 2019, October 1, 2019, January 24, 2020, April 23, 
2020 and June 30, 2020.
    Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the requested 
relief will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. 
Interested persons may request a hearing by emailing the Commission's 
Secretary at [email protected] and serving Applicants with a 
copy of the request by email. Hearing requests should be received by 
the Commission by 5:30 p.m. on August 10, 2020 and should be 
accompanied by proof of service on the Applicants, in the form of an 
affidavit or, for lawyers, a certificate of service. Pursuant to rule 
0-5 under the Act, hearing requests should state the nature of the 
writer's interest, any facts bearing upon the desirability of a hearing 
on the matter, the reason for the request, and the issues contested. 
Persons who wish to be notified of a hearing may request notification 
by emailing the Commission's Secretary at [email protected].

ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission: 
[email protected]. Applicants: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara T. Heussler, Senior Counsel, 
at (202) 551-6990, or Trace W. Rakestraw, Branch Chief, at (202) 551-
6825 (Division of Investment Management, Chief Counsel's Office).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the 
application. The complete application may be obtained via the 
Commission's website by searching for the file number, or for an 
applicant using the Company name box at https://www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or by calling (202) 551-8090.

Introduction

    1. The Applicants request an order of the Commission under sections 
17(d) and 57(i) of the Act and rule 17d-1 thereunder (the ``Order'') to 
permit, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the 
application (the

[[Page 44118]]

``Conditions''), a Regulated Fund \2\ and one or more other Regulated 
Funds and/or one or more Affiliated Funds \3\ to enter into Co-
Investment Transactions with each other. ``Co-Investment Transaction'' 
means any transaction in which one or more Regulated Funds (or its 
Wholly-Owned Investment Sub (as defined below)) participated together 
with one or more Affiliated Funds and/or one or more other Regulated 
Funds in reliance on the Order. ``Potential Co-Investment Transaction'' 
means any investment opportunity in which a Regulated Fund (or its 
Wholly-Owned Investment Sub) could not participate together with one or 
more Affiliated Funds and/or one or more other Regulated Funds without 
obtaining and relying on the Order.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ ``Regulated Funds'' means the Fund and any Future Regulated 
Funds. ``Future Regulated Fund'' means a closed-end management 
investment company (a) that is registered under the Act or has 
elected to be regulated as a BDC, (b) whose investment adviser is an 
Adviser, and (c) that intends to participate in the program of co-
investments described in the application (``Co-Investment 
Program''). The definitions of Regulated Funds and Future Regulated 
Funds do not include FS KKR Capital Corp., FS KKR Capital Corp. II, 
FS Energy & Power Fund and FS Credit Income Fund because such funds 
are already operating pursuant to existing exemptive relief. See 
Corporate Capital Trust, Inc., et al., Investment Company Act Rel. 
Nos. 32642 (May 22, 2017)(notice) and 32683 (June 19, 2017)(order); 
Triloma EIG Energy Income Fund, et al., Investment Company Act Rel. 
Nos. 33047 (Mar. 14, 2018)(notice) and 33070 (Apr. 10, 2018)(order); 
and FS Credit Income Fund, et al., Investment Company Act Rel. Nos. 
33848 (Apr. 22, 2020)(notice) and 33871 (May 19, 2020)(order).
    ``Adviser'' means FS, the Affiliated Fund Advisor and any future 
investment adviser that is (i) controlling, under common control 
with, or controlled by FS Investments (as defined below), (ii) 
registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers 
Act of 1940 (the ``Advisers Act''), and (iii) not a Regulated Fund 
or a subsidiary of a Regulated Fund.
    \3\ ``Affiliated Fund'' means any Existing Affiliated Fund any 
Future Affiliated Fund or any FS Proprietary Account (as defined 
below). ``Future Affiliated Fund'' means any entity (a) whose 
investment adviser is an Adviser, (b) that would be an investment 
company but for section 3(c)(1), 3(c)(5)(C) or 3(c)(7) of the Act, 
and (c) that intends to participate in the Co-investment Program.
    \4\ All existing entities that currently intend to rely on the 
Order have been named as Applicants and any existing or future 
entities that may rely on the Order in the future will comply with 
the terms and Conditions set forth in the application.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applicants

    2. The Fund is a closed-end management investment company 
registered under the Act and organized as a Delaware Statutory Trust. 
The Fund has a seven member Board \5\ of which six members are 
Independent Trustees.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ ``Board'' means the board of trustees (or the equivalent) of 
the applicable Regulated Fund.
    \6\ ``Independent Trustee'' means a member of the Board of any 
relevant entity who is not an ``interested person'' as defined in 
Section 2(a)(19) of the Act. No Independent Trustee of a Regulated 
Fund will have a financial interest in any Co-Investment 
Transaction, other than indirectly through share ownership in one of 
the Regulated Funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3. FS, a Delaware limited liability company, is a registered 
investment adviser with the Commission under the Advisers Act and 
serves as investment adviser to the Fund.
    4. The Existing Affiliated Fund is a Delaware limited partnership 
that is a privately-offered fund that would be an investment company 
but for section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Act. The Affiliated Fund 
Advisor is a Delaware limited liability company and is registered as an 
investment adviser with the Commission under the Advisers Act and 
serves as the investment adviser to the Existing Affiliated Fund.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ FS and the Affiliated Fund Advisor are each a subsidiary of 
Franklin Square Holdings, L.P., a Pennsylvania limited partnership 
(``FS Investments''). FS Investments is a leading asset manager 
dedicated to helping individuals, financial professionals and 
institutions design better portfolios. FS Investments currently owns 
a majority of each of FS and the Affiliated Funds Advisor. FS 
Investments does not currently offer investment advisory services to 
any person and is not expected to do so in the future. Applicants 
state that as a result, FS Investments has not been included as an 
Applicant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    5. FS Proprietary Accounts \8\ may hold various financial assets in 
a principal capacity. Currently there are no FS Proprietary Accounts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ ``FS Proprietary Account'' means any account of an Adviser 
or its affiliates or any company that is a direct or indirect, 
wholly- or majority-owned subsidiary of the Adviser or its 
affiliates, which, from time to time, may hold various financial 
assets in a principal capacity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    6. Applicants state that a Regulated Fund may, from time to time, 
form one or more Wholly-Owned Investment Subs.\9\ Such a subsidiary may 
be prohibited from investing in a Co-Investment Transaction with a 
Regulated Fund (other than its parent) or any Affiliated Fund because 
it would be a company controlled by its parent Regulated Fund for 
purposes of section 57(a)(4) and rule 17d-1. Applicants request that 
each Wholly-Owned Investment Sub be permitted to participate in Co-
Investment Transactions in lieu of the Regulated Fund that owns it and 
that the Wholly-Owned Investment Sub's participation in any such 
transaction be treated, for purposes of the Order, as though the parent 
Regulated Fund were participating directly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ ``Wholly-Owned Investment Sub'' means an entity (i) that is 
wholly-owned by a Regulated Fund (with such Regulated Fund at all 
times holding, beneficially and of record, 100% of the voting and 
economic interests); (ii) whose sole business purpose is to hold one 
or more investments on behalf of such Regulated Fund (and, in the 
case of a SBIC Subsidiary (defined below), maintain a license under 
the SBA Act (defined below) and issue debentures guaranteed by the 
SBA (defined below)); (iii) with respect to which such Regulated 
Fund's Board has the sole authority to make all determinations with 
respect to the entity's participation under the Conditions; and (iv) 
that would be an investment company but for section 3(c)(1) or 
3(c)(7) of the Act. ``SBIC Subsidiary'' means a Wholly-Owned 
Investment Sub that is licensed by the Small Business Administration 
(the ``SBA'') to operate under the Small Business Investment Act of 
1958, as amended, (the ``SBA Act'') as a small business investment 
company.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applicants' Representations

A. Allocation Process

    7. Applicants represent that the Adviser has established processes 
for allocating initial investment opportunities, opportunities for 
subsequent investments in an issuer and dispositions of securities 
holdings reasonably designed to treat all clients fairly and equitably. 
Further, Applicants represent that these processes will be extended and 
modified in a manner reasonably designed to ensure that the additional 
transactions permitted under the Order will both (i) be fair and 
equitable to the Regulated Funds and the Affiliated Funds and (ii) 
comply with the Conditions.
    8. Opportunities for Potential Co-Investment Transactions may arise 
when investment advisory personnel of an Adviser becomes aware of 
investment opportunities that may be appropriate for one or more 
Regulated Funds and one or more Affiliated Funds. If the requested 
Order is granted, the Adviser will establish, maintain and implement 
policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that, when such 
opportunities arise, the Adviser to the relevant Regulated Funds is 
promptly notified and receives the same information about the 
opportunity as any other Adviser considering the opportunity for its 
clients. In particular, consistent with Condition 1, if a Potential Co-
Investment Transaction falls within the then-current Objectives and 
Strategies \10\ and any Board-Established Criteria \11\ of a Regulated

[[Page 44119]]

Fund, the policies and procedures will require that the Adviser to such 
Regulated Fund receives sufficient information to allow such Adviser's 
investment committee to make its independent determination and 
recommendations under the Conditions. The Adviser to each applicable 
Regulated Fund will then make an independent determination of the 
appropriateness of the investment for the Regulated Fund in light of 
the Regulated Fund's then-current circumstances. If the Adviser to a 
Regulated Fund deems the Regulated Fund's participation in any 
Potential Co-Investment Transaction to be appropriate, it will 
formulate a recommendation regarding the proposed order amount for the 
Regulated Fund.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ ``Objectives and Strategies'' means a Regulated Fund's 
investment objectives and strategies, as described in its most 
current registration statement on Form N-2, other current filings 
with the Commission under the Securities Act of 1933 (the 
``Securities Act'') or under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as 
amended, and its most current report to stockholders.
    \11\ ``Board-Established Criteria'' means criteria that the 
Board of a Regulated Fund may establish from time to time to 
describe the characteristics of Potential Co-Investment Transactions 
regarding which the Adviser to the Regulated Fund should be notified 
under Condition 1. The Board-Established Criteria will be consistent 
with the Regulated Fund's Objectives and Strategies. If no Board-
Established Criteria are in effect, then the Regulated Fund's 
Adviser will be notified of all Potential Co-Investment Transactions 
that fall within the Regulated Fund's then-current Objectives and 
Strategies. Board-Established Criteria will be objective and 
testable, meaning that they will be based on observable information, 
such as industry/sector of the issuer, minimum EBITDA of the issuer, 
asset class of the investment opportunity or required commitment 
size, and not on characteristics that involve a discretionary 
assessment. The Adviser to the Regulated Fund may from time to time 
recommend criteria for the Board's consideration, but Board-
Established Criteria will only become effective if approved by a 
majority of the Independent Trustees. The Independent Trustees of a 
Regulated Fund may at any time rescind, suspend or qualify its 
approval of any Board-Established Criteria, though Applicants 
anticipate that, under normal circumstances, the Board would not 
modify these criteria more often than quarterly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    9. Applicants state that, for each Regulated Fund and Affiliated 
Fund whose Adviser recommends participating in a Potential Co-
Investment Transaction, the Adviser's investment committee will approve 
an investment amount. Prior to the External Submission (as defined 
below), each proposed order amount may be reviewed and adjusted, in 
accordance with the Adviser's written allocation policies and 
procedures, by the Adviser's investment committee.\12\ The order of a 
Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund resulting from this process is 
referred to as its ``Internal Order''. The Internal Order will be 
submitted for approval by the Required Majority of any participating 
Regulated Funds in accordance with the Conditions.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ The reason for any such adjustment to a proposed order 
amount will be documented in writing and preserved in the records of 
the Advisers.
    \13\ ``Required Majority'' means a required majority, as defined 
in section 57(o) of the Act. In the case of a Regulated Fund that is 
a registered closed-end fund, the Board members that make up the 
Required Majority will be determined as if the Regulated Fund were a 
BDC subject to section 57(o).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    10. If the aggregate Internal Orders for a Potential Co-Investment 
Transaction do not exceed the size of the investment opportunity 
immediately prior to the submission of the orders to the underwriter, 
broker, dealer or issuer, as applicable (the ``External Submission''), 
then each Internal Order will be fulfilled as placed. If, on the other 
hand, the aggregate Internal Orders for a Potential Co-Investment 
Transaction exceed the size of the investment opportunity immediately 
prior to the External Submission, then the allocation of the 
opportunity will be made pro rata on the basis of the size of the 
Internal Orders.\14\ If, subsequent to such External Submission, the 
size of the opportunity is increased or decreased, or if the terms of 
such opportunity, or the facts and circumstances applicable to the 
Regulated Funds' or the Affiliated Fund's consideration of the 
opportunity change, the participants will be permitted to submit 
revised Internal Orders in accordance with written allocation policies 
and procedures that the Advisers will establish, implement and 
maintain.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ Each Adviser will maintain records of all proposed order 
amounts, Internal Orders and External Submissions in conjunction 
with Potential Co-Investment Transactions. Each applicable Adviser 
will provide the Eligible Trustees with information concerning the 
Affiliated Fund's and Regulated Funds' order sizes to assist the 
Eligible Trustees with their review of the applicable Regulated 
Fund's investments for compliance with the Conditions. ``Eligible 
Trustees'' means, with respect to a Regulated Fund and a Potential 
Co-Investment Transaction, the members of the Regulated Fund's Board 
eligible to vote on that Potential Co-Investment Transaction under 
section 57(o) of the Act (treating any registered investment company 
or series thereof as a BDC for this purpose).
    \15\ The Board of the Regulated Fund will then either approve or 
disapprove of the investment opportunity in accordance with 
Condition 2, 6, 7, 8 or 9, as applicable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Follow-On Investments

    11. Applicants state that from time to time the Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Funds may have opportunities to make Follow-On Investments 
\16\ in an issuer in which a Regulated Fund and one or more other 
Regulated Funds and/or Affiliated Funds previously have invested.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ ``Follow-On Investment'' means an additional investment in 
the same issuer, including, but not limited to, through the exercise 
of warrants, conversion privileges or other rights to purchase 
securities of the issuer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    12. Applicants propose that Follow-On Investments would be divided 
into two categories depending on whether the prior investment was a Co-
Investment Transaction or a Pre-Boarding Investment.\17\ If the 
Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund had previously participated in a 
Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer, then the terms 
and approval of the Follow-On Investment would be subject to the 
Standard Review Follow-Ons described in Condition 8. If the Regulated 
Funds and Affiliated Fund have not previously participated in a Co-
Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer but hold a Pre-
Boarding Investment, then the terms and approval of the Follow-On 
Investment would be subject to the Enhanced-Review Follow-Ons described 
in Condition 9. All Enhanced Review Follow-Ons require the approval of 
the Required Majority. For a given issuer, the participating Regulated 
Funds and Affiliated Fund would need to comply with the requirements of 
Enhanced-Review Follow-Ons only for the first Co-Investment 
Transaction. Subsequent Co-Investment Transactions with respect to the 
issuer would be governed by the requirements of Standard Review Follow-
Ons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ ``Pre-Boarding Investments'' are investments in an issuer 
held by a Regulated Fund as well as one or more Affiliated Funds 
and/or one or more other Regulated Funds that were acquired prior to 
participating in any Co-Investment Transaction: (i) In transactions 
in which the only term negotiated by or on behalf of such funds was 
price in reliance on one of the JT No-Action Letters (defined 
below); or (ii) in transactions occurring at least 90 days apart and 
without coordination between the Regulated Fund and any Affiliated 
Fund or other Regulated Fund.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    13. A Regulated Fund would be permitted to invest in Standard 
Review Follow-Ons either with the approval of the Required Majority 
under Condition 8(c) or without Board approval under Condition 8(b) if 
it is (i) a Pro Rata Follow-On Investment \18\ or (ii) a Non-Negotiated 
Follow-On Investment.\19\ Applicants believe that these Pro Rata and 
Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investments do not present a significant 
opportunity for overreaching on the part of any Adviser and thus do not 
warrant the time or the attention of the Board. Pro Rata Follow-On 
Investments and

[[Page 44120]]

Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investments remain subject to the Board's 
periodic review in accordance with Condition 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ A ``Pro Rata Follow-On Investment'' is a Follow-On 
Investment (i) in which the participation of each Affiliated Fund 
and each Regulated Fund is proportionate to its outstanding 
investments in the issuer or security, as appropriate, immediately 
preceding the Follow-On Investment, and (ii) in the case of a 
Regulated Fund, a majority of the Board has approved the Regulated 
Fund's participation in the pro rata Follow-On Investments as being 
in the best interests of the Regulated Fund. The Regulated Fund's 
Board may refuse to approve, or at any time rescind, suspend or 
qualify, its approval of Pro Rata Follow-On Investments, in which 
case all subsequent Follow-On Investments will be submitted to the 
Regulated Fund's Eligible Trustees in accordance with Condition 
8(c).
    \19\ A ``Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investment'' is a Follow-On 
Investment in which a Regulated Fund participates together with one 
or more Affiliated Funds and/or one or more other Regulated Funds 
(i) in which the only term negotiated by or on behalf of the funds 
is price and (ii) with respect to which, if the transaction were 
considered on its own, the funds would be entitled to rely on one of 
the JT No-Action Letters. ``JT No-Action Letters'' means SMC 
Capital, Inc., SEC No-Action Letter (pub. avail. Sept. 5, 1995) and 
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, SEC No-Action Letter 
(pub. avail. June 7, 2000).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Dispositions

    14. Applicants propose that Dispositions \20\ would be divided into 
two categories. If the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund holding 
investments in the issuer have previously participated in a Co-
Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer, then the terms and 
approval of the Disposition would be subject to the Standard Review 
Dispositions described in Condition 6. If the Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Fund have not previously participated in a Co-Investment 
Transaction with respect to the issuer but hold a Pre-Boarding 
Investment, then the terms and approval of the Disposition would be 
subject to the Enhanced Review Dispositions described in Condition 7. 
Subsequent Dispositions with respect to the same issuer would be 
governed by Condition 6 under the Standard Review Dispositions.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ ``Disposition'' means the sale, exchange or other 
disposition of an interest in a security of an issuer.
    \21\ However, with respect to an issuer, if a Regulated Fund's 
first Co-Investment Transaction is an Enhanced Review Disposition, 
and the Regulated Fund does not dispose of its entire position in 
the Enhanced Review Disposition, then before such Regulated Fund may 
complete its first Standard Review Follow-On in such issuer, the 
Eligible Trustees must review the proposed Follow-On Investment not 
only on a stand-alone basis but also in relation to the total 
economic exposure in such issuer (i.e., in combination with the 
portion of the Pre-Boarding Investment not disposed of in the 
Enhanced Review Disposition), and the other terms of the 
investments. This additional review would be required because such 
findings would not have been required in connection with the prior 
Enhanced Review Disposition, but they would have been required had 
the first Co-Investment Transaction been an Enhanced Review Follow-
On.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    15. A Regulated Fund may participate in a Standard Review 
Disposition either with the approval of the Required Majority under 
Condition 6(d) or without Board approval under Condition 6(c) if (i) 
the Disposition is a Pro Rata Disposition \22\ or (ii) the securities 
are Tradable Securities \23\ and the Disposition meets the other 
requirements of Condition 6(c)(ii). Pro Rata Dispositions and 
Dispositions of a Tradable Security remain subject to the Board's 
periodic review in accordance with Condition 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ A ``Pro Rata Disposition'' is a Disposition (i) in which 
the participation of each Affiliated Fund and each Regulated Fund is 
proportionate to its outstanding investment in the security subject 
to Disposition immediately preceding the Disposition; and (ii) in 
the case of a Regulated Fund, a majority of the Board has approved 
the Regulated Fund's participation in pro rata Dispositions as being 
in the best interests of the Regulated Fund. The Regulated Fund's 
Board may refuse to approve, or at any time rescind, suspend or 
qualify, its approval of Pro Rata Dispositions, in which case all 
subsequent Dispositions will be submitted to the Regulated Fund's 
Eligible Trustees.
    \23\ ``Tradable Security'' means a security that meets the 
following criteria at the time of Disposition: (i) It trades on a 
national securities exchange or designated offshore securities 
market as defined in rule 902(b) under the Securities Act; (ii) it 
is not subject to restrictive agreements with the issuer or other 
security holders; and (iii) it trades with sufficient volume and 
liquidity (findings as to which are documented by the Advisers to 
any Regulated Funds holding investments in the issuer and retained 
for the life of the Regulated Fund) to allow each Regulated Fund to 
dispose of its entire position remaining after the proposed 
Disposition within a short period of time not exceeding 30 days at 
approximately the value (as defined by section 2(a)(41) of the Act) 
at which the Regulated Fund has valued the investment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Delayed Settlement

    16. Applicants represent that under the terms and Conditions of the 
application, all Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds participating in 
a Co-Investment Transaction will invest at the same time, for the same 
price and with the same terms, conditions, class, registration rights 
and any other rights, so that none of them receives terms more 
favorable than any other. However, the settlement date for the 
Affiliated Fund in a Co-Investment Transaction may occur up to ten 
business days after the settlement date for a Regulated Fund, and vice 
versa. Nevertheless, in all cases, (i) the date on which the commitment 
of the Affiliated Funds and Regulated Funds is made will be the same 
even where the settlement date is not and (ii) the earliest settlement 
date and the latest settlement date of any Affiliated Fund or Regulated 
Fund participating in the transaction will occur within ten business 
days of each other.

E. Holders

    17. Under Condition 15, if an Adviser, its principals, or any 
person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the 
Adviser or its principals, and the Affiliated Fund (collectively, the 
``Holders'') own in the aggregate more than 25 percent of the 
outstanding voting shares of a Regulated Fund (the ``Shares''), then 
the Holders will vote such Shares as directed by an independent third 
party when voting on matters specified in the Condition. Applicants 
believe that this Condition will ensure that the Independent Trustees 
will act independently in evaluating Co-Investment Transactions, 
because the ability of an Adviser or its principals to influence the 
Independent Trustees by a suggestion, explicit or implied, that the 
Independent Trustees can be removed will be limited significantly. The 
Independent Trustees shall evaluate and approve any independent party, 
taking into account its qualifications, reputation for independence, 
cost to the shareholders, and other factors that they deem relevant.

Applicants' Legal Analysis

    1. Section 17(d) of the Act and rule 17d-1 under the Act prohibit 
participation by a registered investment company and an affiliated 
person in any ``joint enterprise or other joint arrangement or profit-
sharing plan,'' as defined in the rule, without prior approval by the 
Commission by order upon application. Section 17(d) of the Act and rule 
17d-1 under the Act are applicable to Regulated Funds that are 
registered closed-end investment companies.
    2. Similarly, with regard to BDCs, section 57(a)(4) of the Act 
generally prohibits certain persons specified in section 57(b) from 
participating in joint transactions with the BDC or a company 
controlled by the BDC in contravention of rules as prescribed by the 
Commission. Section 57(i) of the Act provides that, until the 
Commission prescribes rules under section 57(a)(4), the Commission's 
rules under section 17(d) of the Act applicable to registered closed-
end investment companies will be deemed to apply to transactions 
subject to section 57(a)(4). Because the Commission has not adopted any 
rules under section 57(a)(4), rule 17d-1 also applies to joint 
transactions with Regulated Funds that are BDCs.
    3. Co-Investment Transactions are prohibited by either or both of 
rule 17d-1 and section 57(a)(4) without a prior exemptive order of the 
Commission to the extent that the Affiliated Funds and the Regulated 
Funds participating in such transaction fall within the category of 
persons described by rule 17d-1 and/or section 57(b), as modified by 
rule 57b-1 thereunder, as applicable, vis-[agrave]-vis each 
participating Regulated Fund. Each of the participating Regulated Funds 
and Affiliated Funds may be deemed to be affiliated persons vis-
[agrave]-vis a Regulated Fund within the meaning of section 2(a)(3) by 
reason of common control because (i) the Affiliated Fund Advisor 
manages, and may be deemed to control, the Existing Affiliated Fund and 
any other Affiliated Fund will be managed by, and may be deemed to be 
controlled by, an Adviser to Affiliated Funds; (ii) FS is the 
investment adviser to, and may be deemed to control, the Fund and an 
Adviser to the Regulated Funds will be the investment adviser to, and 
may be deemed to control, any

[[Page 44121]]

Future Regulated Fund; and (iii) the Advisers to Affiliated Funds and 
the Advisers to Regulated Funds are under common control. Thus, each of 
the Affiliated Funds could be deemed to be a person related to the 
Regulated Funds in a manner described by section 57(b) and related to 
the other Regulated Funds in a manner described by rule 17d-1; and 
therefore the prohibitions of rule 17d-1 and section 57(a)(4) would 
apply respectively to prohibit the Affiliated Funds from participating 
in Co-Investment Transactions with the Regulated Funds. Each Regulated 
Fund would also be related to each other Regulated Fund in a manner 
described by section 57(b) or rule 17d-1, as applicable, and thus 
prohibited from participating in Co-Investment Transactions with each 
other. In addition, because the FS Proprietary Accounts are controlled 
by the Adviser or its affiliates and, therefore, may be under common 
control with the Fund, any future Advisers, and any Future Regulated 
Funds, the FS Proprietary Accounts could be deemed to be persons 
related to the Regulated Funds (or a company controlled by the 
Regulated Funds) in a manner described by section 17(d) or section 
57(b) and also prohibited from participating in the Co-Investment 
Program.
    4. In passing upon applications under rule 17d-1, the Commission 
considers whether the company's participation in the joint transaction 
is consistent with the provisions, policies, and purposes of the Act 
and the extent to which such participation is on a basis different from 
or less advantageous than that of other participants.
    5. Applicants state that in the absence of the requested relief, in 
many circumstances the Regulated Funds would be limited in their 
ability to participate in attractive and appropriate investment 
opportunities. Applicants state that, as required by rule 17d-1(b), the 
Conditions ensure that the terms on which Co-Investment Transactions 
may be made will be consistent with the participation of the Regulated 
Funds being on a basis that it is neither different from nor less 
advantageous than other participants, thus protecting the equity 
holders of any participant from being disadvantaged. Applicants further 
state that the Conditions ensure that all Co-Investment Transactions 
are reasonable and fair to the Regulated Funds and their shareholders 
and do not involve overreaching by any person concerned, including the 
Advisers. Applicants state that the Regulated Funds' participation in 
the Co-Investment Transactions in accordance with the Conditions will 
be consistent with the provisions, policies, and purposes of the Act 
and would be done in a manner that is not different from, or less 
advantageous than, that of other participants.

Applicants' Conditions

    Applicants agree that the Order shall be subject to the following 
Conditions:
    1. Identification and Referral of Potential Co-Investment 
Transactions.
    (a) The Advisers will establish, maintain and implement policies 
and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that each Adviser is 
promptly notified of all Potential Co-Investment Transactions that fall 
within the then-current Objectives and Strategies and Board-Established 
Criteria of any Regulated Fund the Adviser manages.
    (b) When an Adviser to a Regulated Fund is notified of a Potential 
Co-Investment Transaction under Condition 1(a), the Adviser will make 
an independent determination of the appropriateness of the investment 
for the Regulated Fund in light of the Regulated Fund's then-current 
circumstances.
    2. Board Approvals of Co-Investment Transactions.
    (a) If an Adviser deems a Regulated Fund's participation in any 
Potential Co-Investment Transaction to be appropriate for the Regulated 
Fund, it will then determine an appropriate level of investment for the 
Regulated Fund.
    (b) If the aggregate amount recommended by the Advisers to be 
invested in the Potential Co-Investment Transaction by the 
participating Regulated Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund, 
collectively, exceeds the amount of the investment opportunity, the 
investment opportunity will be allocated among them pro rata based on 
the size of the Internal Orders, as described in section III.A.1.b. of 
the application. Each Adviser to a participating Regulated Fund will 
promptly notify and provide the Eligible Trustees with information 
concerning the Affiliated Fund's and Regulated Funds' order sizes to 
assist the Eligible Trustees with their review of the applicable 
Regulated Fund's investments for compliance with these Conditions.
    (c) After making the determinations required in Condition 1(b) 
above, each Adviser to a participating Regulated Fund will distribute 
written information concerning the Potential Co-Investment Transaction 
(including the amount proposed to be invested by each participating 
Regulated Fund and each participating Affiliated Fund) to the Eligible 
Trustees of its participating Regulated Fund(s) for their 
consideration. A Regulated Fund will enter into a Co-Investment 
Transaction with one or more other Regulated Funds or the Affiliated 
Fund only if, prior to the Regulated Fund's participation in the 
Potential Co-Investment Transaction, a Required Majority concludes 
that:
    (i) The terms of the transaction, including the consideration to be 
paid, are reasonable and fair to the Regulated Fund and its 
shareholders and do not involve overreaching in respect of the 
Regulated Fund or its shareholders on the part of any person concerned;
    (ii) the transaction is consistent with:
    (A) The interests of the Regulated Fund's shareholders; and
    (B) the Regulated Fund's then-current Objectives and Strategies;
    (iii) the investment by any other Regulated Fund(s) or Affiliated 
Fund(s) would not disadvantage the Regulated Fund, and participation by 
the Regulated Fund would not be on a basis different from, or less 
advantageous than, that of any other Regulated Fund(s) or Affiliated 
Fund(s) participating in the transaction; provided that the Required 
Majority shall not be prohibited from reaching the conclusions required 
by this Condition 2(c)(iii) if:
    (A) The settlement date for another Regulated Fund or an Affiliated 
Fund in a Co-Investment Transaction is later than the settlement date 
for the Regulated Fund by no more than ten business days or earlier 
than the settlement date for the Regulated Fund by no more than ten 
business days, in either case, so long as: (x) The date on which the 
commitment of the Affiliated Fund and Regulated Funds is made is the 
same; and (y) the earliest settlement date and the latest settlement 
date of any Affiliated Fund or Regulated Fund participating in the 
transaction will occur within ten business days of each other; or
    (B) any other Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund, but not the 
Regulated Fund itself, gains the right to nominate a director for 
election to a portfolio company's board of directors, the right to have 
a board observer or any similar right to participate in the governance 
or management of the portfolio company so long as: (x) The Eligible 
Trustees will have the right to ratify the selection of such director 
or board observer, if any; (y) the Adviser agrees to, and does, provide 
periodic reports to the Regulated Fund's Board with respect to the 
actions of such director or the information received by such board 
observer or obtained through the exercise of any similar right to 
participate in the governance or

[[Page 44122]]

management of the portfolio company; and (z) any fees or other 
compensation that any other Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund or any 
affiliated person of any other Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund 
receives in connection with the right of one or more Regulated Funds or 
Affiliated Funds to nominate a director or appoint a board observer or 
otherwise to participate in the governance or management of the 
portfolio company will be shared proportionately among any 
participating Affiliated Funds (who may, in turn, share their portion 
with their affiliated persons) and any participating Regulated Fund(s) 
in accordance with the amount of each such party's investment; and
    (iv) the proposed investment by the Regulated Fund will not involve 
compensation, remuneration or a direct or indirect \24\ financial 
benefit to the Advisers, any other Regulated Fund, the Affiliated Fund 
or any affiliated person of any of them (other than the parties to the 
Co-Investment Transaction), except (A) to the extent permitted by 
Condition 14, (B) to the extent permitted by section 17(e) or 57(k), as 
applicable, (C) indirectly, as a result of an interest in the 
securities issued by one of the parties to the Co-Investment 
Transaction, or (D) in the case of fees or other compensation described 
in Condition 2(c)(iii)(B)(z).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ For example, procuring the Regulated Fund's investment in a 
Potential Co-Investment Transaction to permit an affiliate to 
complete or obtain better terms in a separate transaction would 
constitute an indirect financial benefit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3. Right to Decline. Each Regulated Fund has the right to decline 
to participate in any Potential Co-Investment Transaction or to invest 
less than the amount proposed.
    4. General Limitation. Except for Follow-On Investments made in 
accordance with Conditions 8 and 9 below,\25\ a Regulated Fund will not 
invest in reliance on the Order in any issuer in which a Related Party 
has an investment.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ This exception applies only to Follow-On Investments by a 
Regulated Fund in issuers in which that Regulated Fund already holds 
investments.
    \26\ ``Related Party'' means (i) any Close Affiliate and (ii) in 
respect of matters as to which any Adviser has knowledge, any Remote 
Affiliate. ``Close Affiliate'' means the Advisers, the Regulated 
Funds, the Affiliated Fund and any other person described in section 
57(b) (after giving effect to rule 57b-1) in respect of any 
Regulated Fund (treating any registered investment company or series 
thereof as a BDC for this purpose) except for limited partners 
included solely by reason of the reference in section 57(b) to 
section 2(a)(3)(D). ``Remote Affiliate'' means any person described 
in section 57(e) in respect of any Regulated Fund (treating any 
registered investment company or series thereof as a BDC for this 
purpose) and any limited partner holding 5% or more of the relevant 
limited partner interests that would be a Close Affiliate but for 
the exclusion in that definition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    5. Same Terms and Conditions. A Regulated Fund will not participate 
in any Potential Co-Investment Transaction unless (i) the terms, 
conditions, price, class of securities to be purchased, date on which 
the commitment is entered into and registration rights (if any) will be 
the same for each participating Regulated Fund and Affiliated Fund and 
(ii) the earliest settlement date and the latest settlement date of any 
participating Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will occur as close in 
time as practicable and in no event more than ten business days apart. 
The grant to one or more Regulated Funds or Affiliated Funds, but not 
the respective Regulated Fund, of the right to nominate a director for 
election to a portfolio company's board of directors, the right to have 
an observer on the board of directors or similar rights to participate 
in the governance or management of the portfolio company will not be 
interpreted so as to violate this Condition 5, if Condition 
2(c)(iii)(B) is met.
    6. Standard Review Dispositions.
    (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund elects to 
sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of an interest in a security and 
one or more Regulated Funds and Affiliated Funds have previously 
participated in a Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer, 
then:
    (i) The Adviser to such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund \27\ will 
notify each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer of 
the proposed Disposition at the earliest practical time; and
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ Any FS Proprietary Account that is not advised by the 
Adviser is itself deemed to be an Adviser for purposes of Conditions 
6(a)(i), 7(a)(i), 8(a)(i) and 9(a)(i).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in 
the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to participation by such 
Regulated Fund in the Disposition.
    (b) Same Terms and Conditions. Each Regulated Fund will have the 
right to participate in such Disposition on a proportionate basis, at 
the same price and on the same terms and conditions as those applicable 
to the Affiliated Fund and any other Regulated Fund.
    (c) No Board Approval Required. A Regulated Fund may participate in 
such a Disposition without obtaining prior approval of the Required 
Majority if:
    (i) (A) The participation of each Regulated Fund and Affiliated 
Fund in such Disposition is proportionate to its then-current holding 
of the security (or securities) of the issuer that is (or are) the 
subject of the Disposition; \28\ (B) the Board of the Regulated Fund 
has approved as being in the best interests of the Regulated Fund the 
ability to participate in such Dispositions on a pro rata basis (as 
described in greater detail in the application); and (C) the Board of 
the Regulated Fund is provided on a quarterly basis with a list of all 
Dispositions made in accordance with this Condition; or
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \28\ In the case of any Disposition, proportionality will be 
measured by each participating Regulated Fund's and Affiliated 
Fund's outstanding investment in the security in question 
immediately preceding the Disposition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) each security is a Tradable Security and (A) the Disposition 
is not to the issuer or any affiliated person of the issuer; and (B) 
the security is sold for cash in a transaction in which the only term 
negotiated by or on behalf of the participating Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Funds is price.
    (d) Standard Board Approval. In all other cases, the Adviser will 
provide its written recommendation as to the Regulated Fund's 
participation to the Eligible Trustees and the Regulated Fund will 
participate in such Disposition solely to the extent that a Required 
Majority determines that it is in the Regulated Fund's best interests.
    7. Enhanced Review Dispositions.
    (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund elects to 
sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of a Pre-Boarding Investment in a 
Potential Co-Investment Transaction and the Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Fund have not previously participated in a Co-Investment 
Transaction with respect to the issuer:
    (i) The Adviser to such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will 
notify each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in the issuer of 
the proposed Disposition at the earliest practical time;
    (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in 
the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to participation by such 
Regulated Fund in the Disposition; and
    (iii) the Advisers will provide to the Board of each Regulated Fund 
that holds an investment in the issuer all information relating to the 
existing investments in the issuer of the Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Fund, including the terms of such investments and how they 
were made, that is necessary for the Required Majority to make the 
findings required by this Condition.
    (b) Enhanced Board Approval. The Adviser will provide its written 
recommendation as to the Regulated Fund's participation to the Eligible

[[Page 44123]]

Trustees, and the Regulated Fund will participate in such Disposition 
solely to the extent that a Required Majority determines that:
    (i) The Disposition complies with Condition 2(c)(i), (ii), 
(iii)(A), and (iv); and
    (ii) the making and holding of the Pre-Boarding Investments were 
not prohibited by section 57 or rule 17d-1, as applicable, and records 
the basis for the finding in the Board minutes.
    (c) Additional Requirements. The Disposition may only be completed 
in reliance on the Order if:
    (i) Same Terms and Conditions. Each Regulated Fund has the right to 
participate in such Disposition on a proportionate basis, at the same 
price and on the same terms and Conditions as those applicable to the 
Affiliated Fund and any other Regulated Fund;
    (ii) Original Investments. All of the Affiliated Fund's and 
Regulated Funds' investments in the issuer are Pre-Boarding 
Investments;
    (iii) Advice of counsel. Independent counsel to the Board advises 
that the making and holding of the investments in the Pre-Boarding 
Investments were not prohibited by section 57 (as modified by rule 57b-
1) or rule 17d-1, as applicable;
    (iv) Multiple Classes of Securities. All Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Funds that hold Pre-Boarding Investments in the issuer 
immediately before the time of completion of the Co-Investment 
Transaction hold the same security or securities of the issuer. For the 
purpose of determining whether the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund 
hold the same security or securities, they may disregard any security 
held by some but not all of them if, prior to relying on the Order, the 
Required Majority is presented with all information necessary to make a 
finding, and finds, that: (x) Any Regulated Fund's or Affiliated Fund's 
holding of a different class of securities (including for this purpose 
a security with a different maturity date) is immaterial \29\ in 
amount, including immaterial relative to the size of the issuer; and 
(y) the Board records the basis for any such finding in its minutes. In 
addition, securities that differ only in respect of issuance date, 
currency, or denominations may be treated as the same security; and
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ In determining whether a holding is ``immaterial'' for 
purposes of the Order, the Required Majority will consider whether 
the nature and extent of the interest in the transaction or 
arrangement is sufficiently small that a reasonable person would not 
believe that the interest affected the determination of whether to 
enter into the transaction or arrangement or the terms of the 
transaction or arrangement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (v) No control. The Affiliated Fund, the other Regulated Funds and 
their affiliated persons (within the meaning of section 2(a)(3)(C) of 
the Act), individually or in the aggregate, do not control the issuer 
of the securities (within the meaning of section 2(a)(9) of the Act).
    8. Standard Review Follow-Ons.
    (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund desires to 
make a Follow-On Investment in an issuer and the Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Funds holding investments in the issuer previously 
participated in a Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer:
    (i) The Adviser to each such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will 
notify each Regulated Fund that holds securities of the portfolio 
company of the proposed transaction at the earliest practical time; and
    (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in 
the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to the proposed 
participation, including the amount of the proposed investment, by such 
Regulated Fund.
    (b) No Board Approval Required. A Regulated Fund may participate in 
the Follow-On Investment without obtaining prior approval of the 
Required Majority if:
    (i) (A) The proposed participation of each Regulated Fund and each 
Affiliated Fund in such investment is proportionate to its outstanding 
investments in the issuer or the security at issue, as appropriate,\30\ 
immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment; and (B) the Board of 
the Regulated Fund has approved as being in the best interests of the 
Regulated Fund the ability to participate in Follow-On Investments on a 
pro rata basis (as described in greater detail in the application); or
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ To the extent that a Follow-On Investment opportunity is in 
a security or arises in respect of a security held by the 
participating Regulated Funds and any Affiliated Fund, 
proportionality will be measured by each participating Regulated 
Fund's and Affiliated Fund's outstanding investment in the security 
in question immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment using the 
most recent available valuation thereof. To the extent that a 
Follow-On Investment opportunity relates to an opportunity to invest 
in a security that is not in respect of any security held by any of 
the participating Regulated Funds or any Affiliated Fund, 
proportionality will be measured by each participating Regulated 
Fund's and Affiliated Fund's outstanding investment in the issuer 
immediately preceding the Follow-On Investment using the most recent 
available valuation thereof.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) it is a Non-Negotiated Follow-On Investment.
    (c) Standard Board Approval. In all other cases, the Adviser will 
provide its written recommendation as to the Regulated Fund's 
participation to the Eligible Trustees and the Regulated Fund will 
participate in such Follow-On Investment solely to the extent that a 
Required Majority makes the determinations set forth in Condition 2(c). 
If the only previous Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the 
issuer was an Enhanced Review Disposition the Eligible Trustees must 
complete this review of the proposed Follow-On Investment both on a 
stand-alone basis and together with the Pre-Boarding Investments in 
relation to the total economic exposure and other terms of the 
investment.
    (d) Allocation. If, with respect to any such Follow-On Investment:
    (i) The amount of the opportunity proposed to be made available to 
any Regulated Fund is not based on the Regulated Funds' and the 
Affiliated Fund's outstanding investments in the issuer or the security 
at issue, as appropriate, immediately preceding the Follow-On 
Investment; and
    (ii) the aggregate amount recommended by the Advisers to be 
invested in the Follow-On Investment by the participating Regulated 
Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund, collectively, exceeds the 
amount of the investment opportunity, then the Follow-On Investment 
opportunity will be allocated among them pro rata based on the size of 
the Internal Orders, as described in section III.A.1.b. of the 
application.
    (e) Other Conditions. The acquisition of Follow-On Investments as 
permitted by this Condition will be considered a Co-Investment 
Transaction for all purposes and subject to the other Conditions set 
forth in the application.
    9. Enhanced Review Follow-Ons.
    (a) General. If any Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund desires to 
make a Follow-On Investment in an issuer that is a Potential Co-
Investment Transaction and the Regulated Funds and any Affiliated Fund 
holding investments in the issuer have not previously participated in a 
Co-Investment Transaction with respect to the issuer:
    (i) The Adviser to each such Regulated Fund or Affiliated Fund will 
notify each Regulated Fund that holds securities of the portfolio 
company of the proposed transaction at the earliest practical time;
    (ii) the Adviser to each Regulated Fund that holds an investment in 
the issuer will formulate a recommendation as to the proposed 
participation, including the amount of the proposed investment, by such 
Regulated Fund; and

[[Page 44124]]

    (iii) the Advisers will provide to the Board of each Regulated Fund 
that holds an investment in the issuer all information relating to the 
existing investments in the issuer of the Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Fund, including the terms of such investments and how they 
were made, that is necessary for the Required Majority to make the 
findings required by this Condition.
    (b) Enhanced Board Approval. The Adviser will provide its written 
recommendation as to the Regulated Fund's participation to the Eligible 
Trustees, and the Regulated Fund will participate in such Follow-On 
Investment solely to the extent that a Required Majority reviews the 
proposed Follow-On Investment both on a stand-alone basis and together 
with the Pre-Boarding Investments in relation to the total economic 
exposure and other terms and makes the determinations set forth in 
Condition 2(c). In addition, the Follow-On Investment may only be 
completed in reliance on the Order if the Required Majority of each 
participating Regulated Fund determines that the making and holding of 
the Pre-Boarding Investments were not prohibited by section 57 (as 
modified by rule 57b-1) or rule 17d-1, as applicable. The basis for the 
Board's findings will be recorded in its minutes.
    (c) Additional Requirements. The Follow-On Investment may only be 
completed in reliance on the Order if:
    (i) Original Investments. All of the Affiliated Fund's and 
Regulated Funds' investments in the issuer are Pre-Boarding 
Investments;
    (ii) Advice of counsel. Independent counsel to the Board advises 
that the making and holding of the investments in the Pre-Boarding 
Investments were not prohibited by section 57 (as modified by rule 57b-
1) or rule 17d-1, as applicable;
    (iii) Multiple Classes of Securities. All Regulated Funds and 
Affiliated Funds that hold Pre-Boarding Investments in the issuer 
immediately before the time of completion of the Co-Investment 
Transaction hold the same security or securities of the issuer. For the 
purpose of determining whether the Regulated Funds and Affiliated Fund 
hold the same security or securities, they may disregard any security 
held by some but not all of them if, prior to relying on the Order, the 
Required Majority is presented with all information necessary to make a 
finding, and finds, that: (x) Any Regulated Fund's or Affiliated Fund's 
holding of a different class of securities (including for this purpose 
a security with a different maturity date) is immaterial in amount, 
including immaterial relative to the size of the issuer; and (y) the 
Board records the basis for any such finding in its minutes. In 
addition, securities that differ only in respect of issuance date, 
currency, or denominations may be treated as the same security; and
    (iv) No control. The Affiliated Fund, the other Regulated Funds and 
their affiliated persons (within the meaning of section 2(a)(3)(C) of 
the Act), individually or in the aggregate, do not control the issuer 
of the securities (within the meaning of section 2(a)(9) of the Act).
    (d) Allocation. If, with respect to any such Follow-On Investment:
    (i) The amount of the opportunity proposed to be made available to 
any Regulated Fund is not based on the Regulated Funds' and the 
Affiliated Fund's outstanding investments in the issuer or the security 
at issue, as appropriate, immediately preceding the Follow-On 
Investment; and
    (ii) the aggregate amount recommended by the Advisers to be 
invested in the Follow-On Investment by the participating Regulated 
Funds and any participating Affiliated Fund, collectively, exceeds the 
amount of the investment opportunity, then the Follow-On Investment 
opportunity will be allocated among them pro rata based on the size of 
the Internal Orders, as described in section III.A.1.b of the 
application.
    (e) Other Conditions. The acquisition of Follow-On Investments as 
permitted by this Condition will be considered a Co-Investment 
Transaction for all purposes and subject to the other Conditions set 
forth in the application.
    10. Board Reporting, Compliance and Annual Re-Approval.
    (a) Each Adviser to a Regulated Fund will present to the Board of 
each Regulated Fund, on a quarterly basis, and at such other times as 
the Board may request, (i) a record of all investments in Potential Co-
Investment Transactions made by any of the other Regulated Funds or any 
Affiliated Fund during the preceding quarter that fell within the 
Regulated Fund's then-current Objectives and Strategies and Board-
Established Criteria that were not made available to the Regulated 
Fund, and an explanation of why such investment opportunities were not 
made available to the Regulated Fund; (ii) a record of all Follow-On 
Investments in and Dispositions of investments in any issuer in which 
the Regulated Fund holds any investments by any Affiliated Fund or 
other Regulated Fund during the prior quarter; and (iii) all 
information concerning Potential Co-Investment Transactions and Co-
Investment Transactions, including investments made by other Regulated 
Funds or any Affiliated Fund that the Regulated Fund considered but 
declined to participate in, so that the Independent Trustees, may 
determine whether all Potential Co-Investment Transactions and Co-
Investment Transactions during the preceding quarter, including those 
investments that the Regulated Fund considered but declined to 
participate in, comply with the Conditions.
    (b) All information presented to the Regulated Fund's Board 
pursuant to this Condition will be kept for the life of the Regulated 
Fund and at least two years thereafter, and will be subject to 
examination by the Commission and its staff.
    (c) Each Regulated Fund's chief compliance officer, as defined in 
rule 38a-1(a)(4), will prepare an annual report for its Board each year 
that evaluates (and documents the basis of that evaluation) the 
Regulated Fund's compliance with the terms and Conditions of the 
application and the procedures established to achieve such compliance.
    (d) The Independent Trustees will consider at least annually 
whether continued participation in new and existing Co-Investment 
Transactions is in the Regulated Fund's best interests.
    11. Record Keeping. Each Regulated Fund will maintain the records 
required by section 57(f)(3) of the Act as if each of the Regulated 
Funds were a BDC and each of the investments permitted under these 
Conditions were approved by the Required Majority under section 57(f).
    12. Trustee Independence. No Independent Trustee of a Regulated 
Fund will also be a director, general partner, managing member or 
principal, or otherwise be an ``affiliated person'' (as defined in the 
Act) of any Affiliated Fund.
    13. Expenses. The expenses, if any, associated with acquiring, 
holding or disposing of any securities acquired in a Co-Investment 
Transaction (including, without limitation, the expenses of the 
distribution of any such securities registered for sale under the 
Securities Act) will, to the extent not payable by the Advisers under 
their respective advisory agreements with the Regulated Funds and the 
Affiliated Fund, be shared by the Regulated Funds and any participating 
Affiliated Fund in proportion to the relative amounts of the securities 
held or being acquired or disposed of, as the case may be.

[[Page 44125]]

    14. Transaction Fees.\31\ Any transaction fee (including break-up, 
structuring, monitoring or commitment fees but excluding brokerage or 
underwriting compensation permitted by section 17(e) or 57(k)) received 
in connection with any Co-Investment Transaction will be distributed to 
the participants on a pro rata basis based on the amounts they invested 
or committed, as the case may be, in such Co-Investment Transaction. If 
any transaction fee is to be held by an Adviser pending consummation of 
the transaction, the fee will be deposited into an account maintained 
by the Adviser at a bank or banks having the qualifications prescribed 
in section 26(a)(1), and the account will earn a competitive rate of 
interest that will also be divided pro rata among the participants. 
None of the Advisers, the Affiliated Fund, the other Regulated Funds or 
any affiliated person of the Affiliated Fund or the Regulated Funds 
will receive any additional compensation or remuneration of any kind as 
a result of or in connection with a Co-Investment Transaction other 
than (i) in the case of the Regulated Funds and the Affiliated Fund, 
the pro rata transaction fees described above and fees or other 
compensation described in Condition 2(c)(iii)(B)(z), (ii) brokerage or 
underwriting compensation permitted by section 17(e) or 57(k) or (iii) 
in the case of the Advisers, investment advisory compensation paid in 
accordance with investment advisory agreements between the applicable 
Regulated Fund(s) or Affiliated Fund(s) and its Adviser.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \31\ Applicants are not requesting and the Commission is not 
providing any relief for transaction fees received in connection 
with any Co-Investment Transaction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    15. Independence. If the Holders own in the aggregate more than 25 
percent of the Shares of a Regulated Fund, then the Holders will vote 
such Shares as directed by an independent third party when voting on 
(1) the election of directors; (2) the removal of one or more 
directors; or (3) any other matter under either the Act or applicable 
State law affecting the Board's composition, size or manner of 
election.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, 
under delegated authority.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-15685 Filed 7-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.