The Managed Funds Association (MFA) said its recommendations will strengthen the U.S. capital market by expanding investor access, promoting capital formation and boosting U.S. economic growth.
In a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, the association recommended several policy recommendations that will reduce regulatory burdens and ensure both public and private markets can support economic growth and investor access.
“Strengthening public and private capital markets will drive economic growth and benefit all Americans,” Bryan Corbett, MFA president and CEO, said. “MFA appreciates the Committee exploring ways to enhance the U.S. capital markets. Our recommendations will make public markets more attractive for companies, foster innovation, and enhance retirement security. U.S. capital markets must remain the strongest in the world so U.S. businesses have access to the capital they need to grow, hire, and compete.”
Among MFA’s recommendation are expanding investor access to private markets by streamlining exemptive order processes, revisiting outdated limits on private fund allocations, and fixing misleading fee disclosure rules to make it easier for regulated funds to offer exposure to private market investments. Additionally, the association recommended diversifying retirement plan investment options, making the IPO process more efficient, and improving market conditions for small public companies.
“Small public companies face regulatory and market structure challenges to continuing as public companies,” the letter said. “Congress and the SEC should allow smaller companies to access capital markets by easing private capital formation and reducing certain regulatory thresholds/hurdles for smaller companies going public. This could include encouraging emerging growth companies to go public by improving the IPO process and streamlining filing requirements under Regulation S-K and S-X.”