FINANCIAL INDUSTRY AND REGULATION

DOL Revised Fiduciary Rule Likely by May: ThinkAdvisor reports that the Department of Labor’s revised fiduciary rule proposal will likely be finalized this year, with a Jan. 1, 2025, effective date, according to Employee Retirement Income Security Act attorneys. The DOL will likely file its revised fiduciary plan with the Office of Management and Budget for review by May — with a final rule released by sometime this summer.                                                                               READ MORE

January Non-Traded Alt Fundraising Totaled $7.6 Billion: The DI Wire reports that alternative investment fundraising totaled $7.6 billion in January, led by non-traded business development companies at an estimated $2.5 billion and interval funds at $1.9 billion. For the month, non-traded real estate investment trusts reported just $317 million of fundraising, as compared to nearly $4.6 billion of fundraising one year ago in January 2023.                                                 READ MORE

Firm Charged up to $50 Million for Messaging Violations: InvestmentNews reports that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. is being hit with a $50 million settlement and penalty from the Securities and Exchange Commission over compliance failures in keeping records of financial advisors and employees’ electronic communications, such as text messages and apps. The large size of such fines underscores that regulators want this behavior to change quickly.             READ MORE

Some Climate Disclosures Being Dropped By SEC: Reuters reports that the SEC has removed some of its most ambitious greenhouse gas emission disclosure requirements from corporate climate risk rules it is preparing to adopt. SEC plans to vote on the rule March 6.                                                                            READ MORE

Judge Tosses Part of SEC Proxy Advice Rule: Pensions & Investments reports that a federal judge has vacated part of an SEC rule that stipulated proxy-voting advice constitutes a solicitation.                                                                 READ MORE

ADISA Exec Honored as Fellow: The Events Industry Council, a federation of the world’s largest events industry associations and about 20,000 hospitality industry companies, bestowed the certified meetings professional fellows designation to ADISA’s executive director, John Harrison. Harrison has held the CMP designation for 30 years and has published research in events management in addition to serving at the helm of record-breaking events in four different associations. The EIC included Harrison in its first class of fellows, chartered in 2024.

Social Media Scams on the Rise: Barron’s reports that the North American Securities Administrators Association on Tuesday warned that state regulators are seeing a surge in technology-driven scams involving digital assets and social media.                                                                                                         READ MORE

POLICY AND LEGISLATION

Labor Nominee Clears Committee but Faces Floor Hurdle: Bloomberg Law reports that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 11-10 Tuesday to once again advance Julie Su’s nomination to serve as labor secretary to the Senate Floor, despite a year-long limbo that indicates she likely still doesn’t have enough votes to be confirmed.                                              READ MORE

McConnell to Step Down as GOP Senate Leader: The Hill reports that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is stepping down from his leadership post in November, ending his history-setting tenure as longest-serving Senate party leader.                                                                                                         READ MORE

Congress Plans to Extend Funding Deadline Again: The Wall Street Journal reports that congressional leaders agreed Wednesday to give themselves more time to approve the Fiscal Year 2024 annual appropriation bills, avoiding a partial federal shutdown this week.                                                                       READ MORE

Tax Package Still Stalled in Senate: Bloomberg Tax reports that the House-passed $78 billion business and child tax break bill has made little progress in the Senate as members work to resolve disputes.                                           READ MORE