Data / Federal rules / 2026-18424
Political Contributions by Certain Investment Advisers
The Securities and Exchange Commission published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on September 10, 2026. It took effect on September 10, 2026. Comments are due by November 9, 2026.
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What the agency says
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission" or the "SEC") is proposing to rescind the political contribution rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the "Advisers Act"), which prohibits investment advisers from providing investment advisory services for compensation to a government client for two years after an adviser or any covered associate of the adviser makes a contribution to certain categories of elected officials or candidates, among other prohibitions. In the more than fifteen years since the rule was adopted, implementation challenges associated with the political contribution rule have resulted in a range of significant unintended consequences, including compliance practices among some investment advisers that may have had the effect of restricting all political contributions by the investment advisers and their employees. Market participants also have stated that the political contribution rule is burdensome, complex, and both lacks clarity and creates a de facto strict liability standard. The Commission is of the view that other existing requirements of the Advisers Act and its associated rules, including prohibitions on fraud, fiduciary duty requirements, the compliance rule, and the code of ethics rule (defined below), are likely sufficient to address pay-to-play practices while allowing an adviser the flexibility to implement an approach that is more appropriately tailored to its particular risks, rendering the political contribution rule unnecessary. The Commission also is proposing to amend the rule under the Advisers Act pertaining to books and records consistent with the proposed rescission.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-18424
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Proposed rule; rescission
- Agency
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Published
- September 10, 2026
- Takes effect
- September 10, 2026
- Comments due
- November 9, 2026
- Dates
- This proposal was published in the Federal Register on September 10, 2026. Comments should be received on or before November 9, 2026.
- Docket
- Release No. IA-6994; File No. S7-2026-31
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 3235-AN65
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 17 CFR 275
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Securities
- Pages
- 29
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Everything from the Securities and Exchange Commission · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on reporting and recordkeeping requirements · Rules on securities · Published in September 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-24. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.