On August 4th, the SEC announced that it is amending rules related to delegating authority to its staff. The final rule updates the way certain responsibilities are assigned to staff, allowing the agency to operate more efficiently. The SEC adopted technical amendments to investment company governance rules to update the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) after a federal court withdrew two 2004 requirements. The court invalidated the 75% disinterested‑director requirement and the independent‑chair requirement, which legally reverted funds back to the earlier standard requiring only a simple majority of disinterested directors.
The rule adoption implements the following changes:
- reinstates the prior simple‑majority disinterested‑director standard
- upholds the remaining 2004 governance requirements that were not vacated
- implements the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) good‑cause exception because the amendments are purely technical
The SEC’s action does not create new obligations. It simply removes the vacated provisions and leaves all other governance requirements unchanged.
For further details, please see the Investment Company Governance Technical Amendments final rule on sec.gov. The final rule has been published in the Federal Register and will be effective on August 6, 2026.
Sources:
Investment Company Governance Technical Amendments (sec.gov)
Final Rule (sec.gov)
