US private funds ask Trump transition team for SEC reform, pro-growth taxes

By Chris Prentice

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A top U.S. lobbying group for hedge funds and private credit firms on Thursday asked Donald Trump’s transition team to review “harmful” private fund regulations and preserve “pro-growth tax policies,” according to a letter seen by Reuters. 

Wall Street lobby groups, which have chafed under the Biden administration’s regulators, are readying their wish lists for the U.S. President-elect’s new Republican administration, which has promised to slash rules and cut taxes, Reuters reported last week.  

On Thursday, the Managed Funds Association (MFA), which has sued the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Biden to overhaul several new private fund rules, called on Trump’s incoming administration to overhaul the agency’s agenda and review recent rulemakings.

“Now is the time to turn the page on the current SEC agenda and leave behind misguided policies that have harmed markets, investors, and the economy,” MFA President and CEO Bryan Corbett wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters. 

A spokesperson for the SEC said the agency’s reforms would “enhance transparency and resiliency in the private funds space.”

Biden administration regulators, led by the Treasury, have also been scrutinizing systemic risks posed by non-banks and private funds. Corbett called for policymakers to embrace alternative assets as a driver of economic growth.

“The diversification provided by private funds is a key fixture in stabilizing financial markets and diffusing risk,” Corbett wrote.

Regarding taxes, which Congress is likely to review next year with Republicans controlling both chambers, Corbett said provisions that incentivize long-term investments should be preserved, most notably the current treatment of carried interest as a long-term capital gain.