At Long Last—Final Regulation AB II

On August 27, 2014 the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") approved final rules relating to asset-backed securities ("ABS") disclosure and registration (the "Final Rules")¹.  The Final Rules are contained in a final release², which was published on September 4, 2014 on the SEC's website (the "Final Release").  The Final Rules represent the culmination of a lengthy rulemaking process, which began with the publication by the SEC in early 2010 of proposed rules³ (the "2010 Proposal")  ⁴ and the subsequent re-proposal in 2011 of a portion of the proposed rules⁵ (the "2011 Re-Proposal" and, collectively with the 2010 Proposal, the "Proposed Rules")⁶.  Although the Final Rules would make changes not only to Regulation AB, but to various other rules, regulations and forms under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), they have become popularly known as "Regulation AB II."