Ropes & Gray Advises Independent Directors Council on ETF Publications

The Independent Directors Council, a leading organization representing independent directors/trustees who serve on the boards of registered investment companies, engaged Ropes & Gray to advise on the recent publication of two papers relating to exchange-traded funds.

On November 7, the IDC published a paper titled “ETF Share Class Relief: An Overview for Fund Directors.” The paper outlines various aspects of ETF share class relief and provides some practical questions independent directors may wish to consider when evaluating a proposal for and providing ongoing oversight of a mutual fund or ETF that relies on the relief.¹ On September 2, the IDC published a paper titled “ETF Primer for Fund Directors,” which discusses ETFs in general and similarly includes practical questions for directors to consider as they perform their oversight responsibilities or seek to become more familiar with ETFs.

Ropes & Gray attorneys helped the IDC prepare both papers and have published extensively on ETFs and ETF share class relief.² If you have any questions about these topics, please reach out to your regular Ropes & Gray contact or email us at ETFInnovations@ropesgray.com.