Securities and Exchange Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'' or ``SEC'') is adopting amendments to the rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (``Advisers Act'') that permits investment advisers to charge performance-based compensation to ``qualified clients.'' The rule defines ``qualified client'' with reference to specific dollar amount thresholds, which are required to be adjusted every five years to account for the effects of inflation. These amendments replace specific dollar amount thresholds in the rule's ``qualified client'' definition with references to the Commission's ``most recent order,'' as defined by the amended rule, containing the specific dollar amount thresholds adjusted for inflation.

The Commission is granting exemptive relief, subject to certain conditions, from compliance with certain provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with a program to portfolio margin cleared swaps customer and affiliate positions in cleared credit default swaps that are swaps and security-based swaps in a segregated account established and maintained in accordance with Section 4d(f) of the Commodity Exchange Act (in the case of a cleared swaps customer) or a cleared swaps proprietary account (in the case of an affiliate). This exemptive relief supersedes and replaces the Commission's Order Granting Conditional Exemptions under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in Connection with Portfolio Margining of Swaps and Security-based Swaps issued in December 2012.