2021 Delaware Code
Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations
Chapter 33. Administrative Provisions
§ 3312. Investments in affiliated investments; transactions with affiliates [For application of this section, see 80 Del. Laws, c. 153, § 5].

Universal Citation: 12 DE Code § 3312. (2021)
§ 3312. Investments in affiliated investments; transactions with affiliates [For application of this section, see 80 Del. Laws, c. 153, § 5].

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Affiliate” means any corporation or other entity that directly or indirectly through 1 or more intermediaries controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the fiduciary.

(2) “Affiliated investment” means an investment for which the fiduciary or an affiliate of the fiduciary acts as adviser, administrator, distributor, placement agent, underwriter, broker or in any other capacity for which it receives or has received a fee or commission from such investment or an investment acquired or disposed of in a transaction for which the fiduciary or an affiliate of the fiduciary receives or has received a fee or commission.

(3) “Fee or commission” means compensation paid to a fiduciary or an affiliate thereof on account of its services to or on behalf of an investment.

(4) “Fiduciary” means any person, including a bank or trust company, acting as a fiduciary as defined in § 3301 of this title, and includes an agent with investment discretion, whether or not such investment discretion has been delegated to such agent by another fiduciary or fiduciaries or granted directly to such agent.

(5) “Governing instrument” means any governing instrument as defined in § 3301 of this title, and includes any agreement or instrument granting fiduciary investment discretion.

(6) “Investment” shall mean any security as defined in § 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U.S.C. § 77b(a)(1)], any contract of sale of a commodity for future delivery within the meaning of § 2(i) of the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.], or any other asset permitted for fiduciary accounts pursuant to the terms of § 3302 of this title or by the terms of the governing instrument, including by way of illustration and not limitation, shares or interests in a private investment fund (including a private investment fund organized as a limited partnership, limited liability company, a statutory or common law business trust, or a real estate investment trust), joint venture or other general or limited partnership, or an open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

(b) Subject to the investment standards stated in § 3302 of this title, a fiduciary may purchase, sell, hold or otherwise deal with an affiliate or an interest in an affiliated investment and, upon satisfaction of the conditions stated in subsection (c) of this section, such fiduciary may receive fiduciary compensation from such account at the same rate as the fiduciary would otherwise be entitled to be compensated.

(c) A fiduciary seeking compensation pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall disclose to each principal in an agency relationship, and to all current recipients of account statements of any other fiduciary account, all fees or commissions paid or to be paid by the account, or received or to be received by an affiliate arising from such affiliated investment or such other dealing with an affiliate. The disclosure required under this subsection may be given either in a copy of the prospectus or any other disclosure document prepared for the affiliated investment under federal or state securities laws or in a written summary that includes all fees or commissions received or to be received by the fiduciary or any affiliate of the fiduciary and an explanation of the manner in which such fees or commissions are calculated (either as a percentage of the assets invested or by some other method). Such disclosure shall be made at least annually unless there has been no increase in the rate at which such fees or commissions are calculated since the most recent disclosure. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, no such disclosure is required if:

(1) The governing instrument or a court order expressly authorizes the fiduciary to invest the fiduciary account in affiliated investments or otherwise deal with an affiliate or an interest in an affiliated investment; or

(2) The fiduciary invests in an affiliated investment or otherwise deals with an affiliate or an interest in an affiliated investment at the direction of an adviser (who expressly directs the fiduciary to enter into a transaction that would otherwise require disclosure under this subsection and who is not an affiliate) pursuant to subsection (b) of § 3313 of this title.

(d) A fiduciary that has complied with subsection (c) of this section (whether by making the applicable disclosure or by relying on the terms of a governing instrument or court order) shall have full authority to administer an affiliated investment (including the authority to vote proxies thereon) without regard to the affiliation between the fiduciary and the investment.

65 Del. Laws, c. 422, § 5;  72 Del. Laws, c. 33, § 1;  73 Del. Laws, c. 329, § 54;  74 Del. Laws, c. 82, § 2;  74 Del. Laws, c. 268, § 1–5;  77 Del. Laws, c. 330, § 4;  80 Del. Laws, c. 153, § 3;  81 Del. Laws, c. 149, § 1; 
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