SEC’s Schapiro Adamant About Money-Market Fund Reforms

When asked by Hobson if the SEC would be open to more discussion about its proposal, Schapiro responded: “When we propose [the rule] it will be in ink, but that’s not final. I’m always open to discussion.” The proposal, she continued, will say, “Here’s the core problem we are trying to solve, you tell us what you think about it.”

Fidelity Investments and Federated Investors have been at the forefront of opposing further money-market fund reforms. The ICI event was abuzz, too, about the ads sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that are splashed around the Washington subway system (known as the Metro) advocating no further changes to money-market funds.

After the Reserve Fund broke the buck, the SEC, in 2010, adopted new rules that imposed robust liquidity requirements on money-market funds and also required higher-quality credit, shorter maturity limits and periodic stress tests, moves that Schapiro has said made “money-market fund portfolios stronger and more resilient.”

But Schapiro has noted that “when [the SEC] passed these reforms, I clearly stated that we needed to do more—that those reforms were just a first step. Because, despite changes in the assets they hold, money-market funds remain susceptible to a sudden deterioration in quality of holdings and consequently, remain susceptible to runs.”