As an early Christmas present, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a new marketing rule on December 22, 2020. This was after a vote on the rule was suddenly canceled at an open meeting the week prior.
Now we are two months after approval of the rule, but it hasn’t yet been published in the Federal Register. So it’s not effective yet and the long runway for compliance has not been laid out.
What’s going on?
The Biden administration imposed a regulatory freeze. It’s not legally binding on Securities and Exchange Commission. Perhaps the SEC is embracing the freeze even though its not required.
In connection with the new Marketing Rule the SEC stated that it was reviewing the 60 years of guidance and no-action letters that have governing marketing under the old advertising rule. Perhaps the erasure of that guidance will be part of the final publication.
Otherwise, the SEC is giving us time to re-read the new Marketing Rule and thinking about the roadmap.
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