Yesterday I posted a summary of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (the “Facility”). Today it expanded the Facility to include tax exempt money market funds and municipal securities. Rather than write a separate post, I updated my original post so all the information is in one place and up to date. The blog editor does not have search functions, so forgive me if I haven’t removed every reference to “Prime” or inserted “Muni” in every appropriate spot.

A favorite client has also furnished me with a companion no-action letter obtained by the Investment Company Institute (“ICI”). I cannot link to the letter because I have not found it on either the SEC’s or ICI’s website. The letter is summarized below.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (“FRBB”) has established a new Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility. (I’m not sure what acronym to use here; “mmm … Fund Liquidity” would work. Let’s just call it the “Facility.”) The Facility opened on March 23, 2020. This post summarizes the significant terms of the Facility and suggests an idea for fund boards to consider.

In a previous post, I noted that recent changes to Rule 2a-7 hit tax exempt money market funds hard, with the loss of half of their pre-reform assets. There are reasons to think these funds will recover, however. Foremost, prior to the post-election surge in interest rates, tax exempt funds were out-yielding every other type of money market fund. According Crane Data, tax exempt funds (which are nearly all retail) out-yielded both institutional and retail prime funds, to say nothing of government funds. These are pre-tax yields; on an after-tax basis, tax exempt funds offer very competitive yields.

Many have found Question 28 of the SEC staff’s 2014 Money Market Fund Reform Frequently Asked Questions frustrating. The question is whether a money market fund’s board of directors can determine to impose a liquidity fee or temporarily suspend redemptions (“gate” the fund) but delay the implementation. The delay would allow the fund to notify its shareholders and their intermediaries. Delay would also provide time to “close the gate” or start charging the fee.