On Friday, December 8, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) announced the adoption of a temporary final rule that effectively delays the required submission of reports on Form N-PORT via EDGAR (the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) by nine months.

During this period, larger fund groups must maintain in their records the information that is required to be included in Form N-PORT in lieu of the filing of reports. These records will be subject to examination by the Commission. Larger fund groups will then be required to begin submitting reports on Form N-PORT on EDGAR by April 30, 2019.

Smaller fund groups will continue to benefit from a filing start date that is one year after larger fund groups begin filing the form, and will be required to begin submitting reports on Form N-PORT by April 30, 2020.

Prior to this, the Commission had adopted Form N-PORT that required registered investment companies to report enhanced information about their monthly portfolio holdings in a structured data format, reflecting data as of June 30, no later than July 30, 2018.

The Commission explains that the delay is in recognition of the importance of sound data security practices and protocols for sensitive, non-public information. Earlier this year, Chairman Clayton initiated an assessment of the Commission’s cybersecurity risk profile and its approach to cybersecurity, which resulted in the commencement of a focused review of the EDGAR system. This delay will allow the Staff to complete the review and to implement and test any resulting modifications to the EDGAR system.

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If you have any questions regarding the matters covered in this memo, please contact any of the partners and counsel listed below or your primary attorney in Seward & Kissel’s Investment Management Group.