Last month saw the SEC pass the long-awaited ETF rule, the 6c-11 rule. Christopher Carlson, counsel at Seward & Kissel LLP, based in the Investment Management Group in Washington, DC explains that the new rule will allow firms to launch ETFs more quickly.

Innovator Capital Management, together with Cboe Global Markets, has created a path for options-based ETFs, including its flagship Buffer ETFs, to be more tax-efficient by taking advantage of in-kind transfers previously only available to traditional ETFs.

The US regulatory body the SEC has announced that it has voted to adopt a new rule and form amendments that are designed to modernise the regulation of ETFs, ‘by establishing a clear and consistent framework for the vast majority of ETFs operating today’. 

The SEC’s exemptive relief granted to non-transparent ETFs is a first but significant step for active managers and a boost to the ETF industry, says Rob Owens, Managing Director of SEI's Investment Manager Services division. 

Precidian Investments has just received approval on its filing for non-transparent actively managed ETFs. The firm writes that its ActiveShares structure is an enhanced version of an ETF with a blind trust and supporting processes.

The Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) has granted S&P DJI Netherlands (S&P DJI BV) authorisation as a regulated Dutch benchmark administrator, under the EU benchmark regulation.

‘Wild West’ crypto-assets should be regulated according to the UK Treasury Committee which has published a unanimously-agreed report on crypto-assets for its Digital Currencies inquiry.

The SEC has postponed the resolution of the application filed by Direxion Investment for a series of ETFs designed to track the performance of Bitcoin.

Stephen Cohen, Head of iShares EMEA at BlackRock, has commented on the position of ETFs six months into MiFID II, examining what has changed so far.

Founded in 2002, the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) has gone from strength to strength in the alternative investment education arena.
William Kelly (pictured), CAIA CEO, joined in 2014 and declares that, while it's been an interesting run, the value proposition of alternatives is alive and well.