investments

A group of associations representing private investment funds, including the National Venture Capital Association, jointly filed a lawsuit in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The suit seeks to overturn the agency’s recent rule that among other things requires fee, audit, and performance disclosures from private fund managers. The opening brief, which became available last week, argues that the rule should be vacated because it overrides Congress’s deliberate exclusion of private funds from this type of oversight, that the costs to funds and investors of implementing the rule outweigh the potential benefits, and a host of procedural missteps during the rulemaking process. For its part, the SEC has defended the rule as being necessary to address insufficient transparency and exposure to conflicts of interest that threaten regular investors as pension and retirement funds increasingly participate in private investment vehicles.

The third quarter of 2023 continues the venture capital market’s recent two-year decline in investments, investors, and initial public offerings. This puts a squeeze on startups. How helpful investment funding will be to startups in the rest of 2023 and beyond likely depends on whether the downward trends settle in alignment with pre-pandemic activity or continue into a VC-specific recession. Regardless, there could be dire consequences for many companies.

Without information and connections on how to access and leverage the diverse American workforce, foreign multinational companies often have trouble finding qualified workers as they establish new – or expand existing – operations in the United States. Now, these companies have help from the SelectTalent USA initiative, a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Education. The new partnership seeks to help foreign investors build local and state partnerships, adapt their traditional talent-development approaches to the U.S., and harness America’s unique comparative advantage—its diverse and skilled workforce.

The U.S. Department of Treasury and the International Trade Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce have issued reports considering a program to address national security concerns “arising from outbound investments from the United States into sensitive technologies that could enhance the technological capabilities of countries of concern in ways that threaten U.S. national security.” The reports were required by Congress as part of the most recent appropriations bill and come amid growing concern about China’s technological capacity and if American venture capital funds are helping fuel it.