The SEC Division of Investment Management granted no-action relief, allowing certain Puerto Rico retirement plans to participate in "bank-maintained" collective trust funds without requiring the trust to register under the Investment Company Act, the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The no-action relief under the Investment Company Act was granted primarily because the Puerto Rico retirement plans do not meet the requirements for qualification under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, collective trust funds accepting the assets of such plans would not, absent relief, be able to rely on the exclusion from registration under ICA Section 3(c)(11). The staff letter further states that the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance and the Division of Trading and Markets, based on the facts and representations in the incoming letter, would provide similar relief for purposes of SA Section 3(a)(2) and SEA Section 12(g)(2)(H).
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