On July 3, 2026, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs published the semi-annual “Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” of the various federal agencies. The Unified Agenda includes the SEC’s 2026 Agency Rule List containing the following items from the Division of Investment Management, as well as the SEC’s current timing estimates. From other SEC Divisions, the Agency Rule List also contains three crypto-related rulemakings, as well as two items in response to the successful challenge to the SEC’s Short Sale Rule and Securities Lending Rule.
Italicized items first appeared in the SEC’s prior agency rule list published on September 4, 2025, described in a Ropes & Gray Alert. The remaining items are new additions to the SEC’s agenda. In many cases, the scope and substance of the rulemakings below are ambiguous notwithstanding the description provided.
| IM Rulemaking | Status & Timing | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Amendments to Rule 17a-7 Under the Investment Company Act (appeared Sept. 2025) | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments to Rule 17a-7 under the 1940 Act to modernize the conditions for, and expand the availability of, the exemption from Section 17(a), allowing certain purchase or sale transactions between an investment company and certain affiliated persons. |
| Amendments to the Custody Rules (appeared Sept. 2025) | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments to existing rules and/or propose new rules under the Advisers Act and the 1940 Act to improve and modernize the regulations around the custody of advisory client and fund assets, including to address in each case crypto assets. |
| Electronic Delivery of Information Under the Federal Securities Laws | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division (with other SEC Divisions and Offices) is considering recommending that the SEC propose rules that would address the use of electronic delivery for information required to be delivered under the federal securities laws and rules thereunder, in order to modernize the SEC’s approach to the use of electronic media and reduce costs associated with paper delivery. |
| Enhancing Retail Exposure to Private Markets | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments to existing rules and/or propose new rules under the Advisers Act and the 1940 Act to better facilitate retail investor exposure to private markets through registered investment companies and to allow investment advisers to charge performance fees to an expanded set of clients. |
| Affiliated Securities Lending Agent Arrangements | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division is considering recommending that the SEC propose a new exemptive rule under the 1940 Act to allow registered investment companies to lend securities using an affiliated lending agent that is compensated based on a share of the revenue derived by the securities lending transactions, subject to certain conditions. |
| Pay-to-Play Reform | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments to Rule 206(4)-5 under the Advisers Act, which prohibits investment adviser pay-to-play practices, to address identified compliance burdens. |
| Amendments to Investment Adviser Recordkeeping Rule | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments to Rule 204-2 under the Advisers Act, which requires investment advisers to make and keep certain records, to address the appropriate scope of and identified compliance burdens related to electronic communications and to account for certain technological developments since the rule was adopted. |
| Other Divisions’ Rulemaking | Status & Timing | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Amendments to Rule 13f-2, Related Form SHO, and Regulation SHO | To be proposed Oct. 2026 (see Note below) |
The Division of Trading and Markets is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments that would reduce costs and burdens associated with the requirements of Institutional Investment Managers to report short positions to the SEC under Rule 13f-2. The Division is also considering recommending amendments to update the regulatory framework of Regulation SHO in light of changes in the marketplace since the short sale rules were adopted and ease associated compliance burdens. |
| Amendments to Rule 10c-1a | To be proposed Oct. 2026 (see Note below) |
The Division of Trading and Markets is considering recommending that the SEC propose amendments that would reduce costs and burdens associated with requirements under Exchange Act Rule 10c-1a of persons to report loans of securities to a registered national securities association (RNSA) and for the RNSA to make certain of that information public. |
| Transfer Agents (appeared Sept. 2025) | To be proposed Oct. 2026 |
The Division of Trading and Markets is considering recommending that the SEC propose updates and refinements to modernize the existing regulatory regime for transfer agents, including rules relating to crypto assets and the use of distributed ledger technology by transfer agents. |
| Crypto Market Structure Amendments (appeared Sept. 2025) | To be proposed July 2026 |
The Division of Trading and Markets is considering recommending that the SEC amend Exchange Act Rules to account for the trading of crypto assets on ATSs and national securities exchanges. |
| Crypto Assets (appeared Sept. 2025) | To be proposed July 2026 |
The Division of Corporation Finance is considering recommending that the SEC propose rules relating to the offer and sale of crypto assets, potentially to include certain exemptions and safe harbors, to help clarify the regulatory framework for crypto assets and provide greater certainty to the market. |
Note: Short Sale Rule and Securities Lending Rule Deferred until 2028
- A prior Ropes & Gray IM Update reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision regarding a challenge by industry trade groups to (i) Rule 13f-2 under the Exchange Act and related reporting requirements on Form SHO (the “Short Sale Rule”) and (ii) Rule 10c-1(a) under the Exchange Act requiring certain persons to report information about securities loans (the “Securities Lending Rule”). In that decision, the Court held that the SEC had failed to justify the two rules under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Exchange Act and remanded the two rules to the SEC “to allow the agency to consider and quantify the cumulative economic impact of the Rules.”
- On December 3, 2025, the SEC issued an order extending the rules’ compliance dates while it addresses the Court’s concerns. The order extends the compliance date for (i) the Short Sale Rule until January 2, 2028, and (ii) the Securities Lending Rule until September 28, 2028.
Observations
We anticipate that the SEC under Chairman Atkins will continue to have a broad deregulatory orientation and, for the foreseeable future, will include crypto-related rulemakings.
Each of the rulemakings has an associated date by which the SEC plans its next action to occur. These dates are likely driven by the fact that the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions is published semi-annually, and actual publication dates are very likely to occur beyond the dates shown.
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If you would like to learn more about the issues in this Alert, please contact your usual Ropes & Gray attorney contacts.
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