The month-long US government shutdown has stalled rule-making by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would ease access for 401(k) plan managers to include private-credit and alternative assets in defined-contribution vehicles, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Regulatory staff furloughs has stalled the SEC’s progress according to Chairman Paul Atkins, at a time when the agency had been collaborating with the Department of Labor to establish guardrails for such investments.
This had followed an executive order by President Trump, which mandated that the Labor Department re-evaluated guidance for fiduciaries, to introduce a role for alternative investments.
