Form N-PORT Reporting and Investment Company Names Rule Compliance Date

Summary

SIFMA AMG ¹ respectfully submits this comment letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to the proposed rule amendments to reporting on Form N-PORT and corresponding compliance date extension for reporting under the Investment Company Names Rule.

Excerpt

The proposed amendments would make the following changes:

a. Provide reporting funds with an additional 15 days to file monthly reports of portfolio-related information on Form N-PORT (change from current 30 days to 45 days).

b. Restore quarterly publication/disclosure to quarterly (change from monthly)

c. Narrow Form N-PORT reports to streamline or remove certain reported information, including removing Names Rule reporting and other data elements

d. Require new reporting from funds with share classes that operate as exchange-traded funds.

SIFMA AMG supports the proposed rule changes and commends the Commission for re-evaluating the requirements and compliance dates. SIFMA AMG previously submitted comments regarding N-PORT changes in response to the SEC's Open End Fund Liquidity Risk proposal and those views are incorporated herein. ² involved in filings and costs involved, some funds utilize outside providers which has its own operational and timing implications.

A filing deadline that is too short raises the risk of making submissions without full confidence in the data. It raises the risk of needing to make a corrected or amended filing. It also adds a less visible cost of unnecessary time pressure applied to those responsible for reporting. An inappropriately short window puts fund personnel or service providers in the bad position of being responsible for accurate data in a regulatory filing where they have little control over the timeline and tasks required. The cost required to avoid errors on compressed timeframes is difficult to measure but real - and a cost that the Commission has authority to mitigate and still meet its public policy objectives.

In addition, some closed-end funds are particularly challenged to make timely and accurate filings due to holdings that can be less liquid and/or private in nature. Some closed-end funds also do not calculate their NAVs on a daily basis, instead choosing a different cadence such as monthly. If a regular monthly NAV process requires the better part of the month to close, 45 days may not always be sufficient.

Accordingly, SIFMA AMG recommends a single 60-day filing period for all funds. A uniform 60 day filing requirement addresses these various needs and is the most simple to articulate and apply. To do otherwise introduces a rule with deadlines designed around exceptions. It also restores a cadence that worked well for the fund operational mechanics before the 2024 amendments were adopted. As with other Commission filing deadlines, funds have the option to file earlier.