Political Contributions by Certain Investment Advisers

What it does

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.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What it would change

1 part of Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

17 CFR 275

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 3235-AN65 since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This proposal was published in the Federal Register on September 10, 2026. Comments should be received on or before November 9, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Title 17 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register