SIFMA today issued the following statement from Richard A. Dorfman, managing director and head of the SIFMA Securitization Group, on SEC Section 945:
“SIFMA appreciates the efforts of the SEC to bring to a conclusion Section 945 rulemaking on due diligence. We remain concerned, however, with the expert liability issues which we raised in our comments to the SEC in November. Naming a third party conducting a due diligence review an ‘expert’ creates a liability associated with that designation which could limit the availability of these types of services, effectively preventing and/or limiting access to the valuable due diligence provided by these types of firms. Also, we continue to believe it is unwise for the SEC to delineate minimum standards for diligence reviews, given the complexity of these activities and existing liability of issuers for prospective disclosure.”