Compliance February 26, 2025

Money Market Funds Damaged by ‘Flawed’ SEC Amendments

According to the Investment Company Institute, the most significant changes were made without public input. 

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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amendments intended to address concerns about redemption costs and liquidity are “flawed” and have caused damage to prime money market funds, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute.  

In July 2023, the SEC adopted rule amendments that included raising minimum liquidity requirements for money market funds, which it said would provide a more substantial liquidity buffer in the event of rapid redemptions. The move was made in response to the economic shock that resulted from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, when money market funds had significant outflows. According to the regulator, this contributed to stress on short-term funding markets, which in turn led to government intervention to improve liquidity. 

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According to the report, the SEC’s amendments have led to “significant consolidation and reduced competition” of the prime institutional segment of the money market fund industry. While strengthening the resiliency of the funds was a “worthy objective,” the ICI report stated that the inclusion of mandatory liquidity fees on prime institutional funds was the “most consequential change” and that it was made without public input. The rule requires institutional prime and institutional tax-exempt money market funds to impose a liquidity fee when they have net redemptions of at least 5% of net assets. 

“MMF sponsors, service providers, and investors were not provided a meaningful opportunity to 

comment on critical elements of the rule amendments that were ultimately adopted,” the ICI report stated. “The full impact of the SEC’s MMF reforms may not yet have been realized, as a prime institutional MMF could find itself in a situation where it is forced to institute a mandatory liquidity fee.” 

According to the SEC, in addition to providing a “more substantial liquidity buffer” in the case of rapid redemptions, the changes also eliminate provisions that allow a money market fund to suspend redemptions temporarily. This is intended to help reduce the risk of a run on money market funds during times of market stress. 

The ICI’s report cited comments made at the time by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who dissented from the majority and voted against the amendments. Pierce said the changes imply that the regulator believes its judgment “is superior to that of money market funds, their sponsors, their boards, and their shareholders.” She added that there is no way of knowing if the benefits provided by the new rules outweigh their benefits.  

“Now that the final implementation deadline has passed, we can begin assessing whether the SEC’s MMF reforms worked as the previous SEC leadership said they would,” the ICI report stated. “The bottom line is that many of the concerns with the 2023 reforms have come to fruition, leaving the MMF market facing greater uncertainty.”  

In Practice February 26, 2025

Expedited Payments From Social Security Fairness Act Coming Soon

Starting this week, the Social Security Administration is making retroactive payments because of changes to the WEP and GPO, with increases to monthly payments up next.

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The Social Security Administration announced Tuesday that is “immediately” beginning to pay retroactive benefits, and it will increase monthly payments in April to public sector workers whose benefits have been affected by the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.

Former President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act in early January, eliminating the WEP and GPO provisions that had reduced Social Security benefits for workers and spouses if they were covered by an employer that does not withhold Social Security taxes.

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As a result of the law, Social Security benefits are projected to increase for more than 3 million public employees and beneficiaries. Workers expected to benefit from the new law include teachers, firefighters and police officers in many states, as well as employees covered by the federal Civil Service Retirement System and people whose work has been covered by a foreign social security system.

The SSA had announced in an FAQ in January that under its current budget, the agency expected it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits. However, the SSA announced Tuesday that most workers can expect the benefits payments to occur sooner rather than later.

“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President [Donald] Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” said Lee Dudek, acting Social Security commissioner, in a statement. “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible.”

According to the SSA, most people will receive their one-time retroactive payment by the end of March, which will be deposited into the bank account they have on record with Social Security.

Many of these people will also receive higher monthly benefits, which will first be reflected in the benefit payment they receive in April, the SSA stated. Depending on factors such as the type of Social Security benefit received and the amount of the worker’s pension, the change in payment amount will vary from person to person.

Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted or who will receive a retroactive payment will receive a mailed notice from the SSA explaining the change or retroactive payment. According to the SSA, most people will receive their retroactive payment two or three weeks before they receive their notice in the mail.

“Social Security urges beneficiaries to wait until April to ask about the status of their retroactive payment, since these payments will process incrementally into March,” the SSA wrote in its announcement. “Since the new monthly payment amount will begin with the April payment, beneficiaries should wait until after receiving their April payment, before contacting Social Security with questions about their monthly benefit amount.”

The SSA wrote in its previous FAQ that more than 7,000 people each day were calling the SSA’s national toll-free number to ask about the Social Security Fairness Act.

The agency’s Social Security Fairness Act webpage includes more information on the progress of implementing the new law.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency Service Temporary Organization, led by Elon Musk, has initiated the closing of at least 10 Social Security offices throughout the country, and at least 200 SSA employees have been terminated so far amid the effort to drastically downsize the federal government.

Congress also faces a March 14 deadline to extend funding for the federal government to avoid a shutdown, and because Social Security accounts for 21% of the budget, there are concerns that cuts will be made to the program. Social Security’s trust funds are projected to be depleted by 2035.

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