In a comment letter to the agency this past Tuesday, the MFA said the proposal does not provide exemptive relief to private funds, such as hedge funds, that rely on Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act. The proposal "is silent as to whether private funds were intentionally excluded from the proposed rule and fails to provide rationale for their exclusion," the group wrote.
The MFA added that it believes "private funds should be treated like other investment companies under the proposed rule and allowed to invest in ETFs without regard to the 3% limit." According to the group, extending the exemption would "facilitate funds' ability to engage in hedging transactions and to use ETFs as a risk management tool in a manner consistent with protection of investors."
A spokesman for the SEC declined comment.
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