Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 6 2025

14 QUICK LINKS AIFMD BENCHMARKS REGULATION CBDC COSTS & CHARGES CRYPTOASSETS ETF FINTECH FUND LIQUIDITY IOSCO MIFID II/MIFIR OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE PRIIPS SIU SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG T+1 ASIA PACIFIC NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 6 | 2025 NORTH AMERICA SEC Publishes Data on Regulation A, Crowdfunding Offerings, and Private Fund Beneficial Ownership Concentration On 28 May 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (the Division) published three new reports that provide the public with information on capital formation and beneficial ownership of qualifying private funds. The first two papers—analyses of the Regulations A and Crowdfunding markets—provide valuable information on how capital is being raised in the United States particularly by smaller issuers. The third paper—an analysis of Beneficial Ownership Concentration and Fund Outcomes for Qualifying Hedge Funds (QHFs) and their advisers from 2013 to 2023. The three reports issued are: • Analysis of the Regulation A Market: A Decade of Regulation A provides statistics on the state of the Regulation A offering exemption over the past decade. It documents the level of offering activity and reported proceeds as well as the characteristics of issuers and offerings relying on this exemption. There were more than 1,400 offerings during this period seeking an aggregate of more than USD 28 billion in capital. Approximately USD 9.4 billion in proceeds was reported by more than 800 issuers. A typical Regulation A issuer was relatively small and young, and most issuers had not yet established a record of profitability. • Analysis of Crowdfunding Under the JOBS Act provides an analysis of offering activity in the Title III securities-based crowdfunding market between 16 May 2016, (effective date of Regulation Crowdfunding) and 31 December 2024. During this period, there were more than 8,400 offerings initiated by more than 7,100 issuers, excluding withdrawn offerings. The offerings sought a total of approximately USD 560 million based on the target (minimum) amount. However, almost all offerings had a minimum-maximum format and accepted oversubscriptions up to a higher maximum. In the aggregate, the maximum amount sought in these offerings was approximately USD 8.4 billion. Based on the analysis of Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) filings during this period, there were more than 3,800 offerings where issuers reported proceeds; in total, they reported approximately USD 1.3 billion in proceeds. The crowdfunding exemption has continued to gain momentum over time and serves small and early-stage companies seeking access to capital, often for the first time. The median issuer had approximately USD 80,000 in total assets, including USD 13,000 in cash, USD 60,000 in debt, and USD 10,000 in revenue, and three employees. • Beneficial Ownership Concentration and Fund Outcomes for Qualifying Hedge Funds provides statistics describing the relationship between beneficial ownership concentration and fund outcomes for Qualifying Hedge Funds and their advisers from 2013 to 2023. Over this period, concentrated funds exhibited faster growth than unconcentrated funds. Concentrated funds hold more liquid assets and offer more liquidity to investors relative to unconcentrated funds, though both portfolio and investor liquidity have declined over the sample period. In addition, the gross return of unconcentrated funds is on average 1.2% higher than concentrated funds, but their net return is only 0.1% higher indicating that, on average, the gross performance advantage of unconcentrated funds is offset by higher margins. Link to Analysis of the Regulation AMarket: A Decade of Regulation A here Link to Analysis of Crowdfunding Under the JOBS Act here Link to Beneficial Ownership Concentration and Fund Outcomes for Qualifying Hedge Funds here Annual SEC Speaks Conference On 19-20 May 2025, the SEC held its annual SEC Speaks conference. The conference featured remarks from Chair Paul S. Atkins, Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw, and Acting Director of the Division of Enforcement SamWaldon, as well as panel discussions addressing current SEC initiatives, priorities, and enforcement trends for the upcoming year. The conference speakers and panels also provided an update on litigation, judicial, and legislative developments. During a panel with members of the Division of Enforcement, SEC Staff discussed various enforcement priorities and expectations.