Shearman & Sterling partner Nathan Greene (New York-Investment Funds) was quoted in a March 15 story in BoardIQ titled "Funds Brace for Delays at SEC as Gov’t Shutdown Looms." The story noted that the SEC could be forced to operate at less than one tenth of its capacity if Congress allows the latest temporary spending measure to expire without a new agreement. Without a new accord, spending would stop on March 18. Greene expressed concern and suggested that if the shutdown goes on for weeks or turns into a crisis, the effect on the markets could be dramatic. “Like any complex system, if you remove one safeguard or disable one part, it’s hard to guess what happens next," he said. The story went on to point out that, for example, in the event of an NYSE shutdown, funds would need guidance on calculating their net asset values. He added that if there is a municipal default, advisers to bond funds might need permission to buy defaulted assets from those funds in order to prevent a sell-off. Finally, Greene noted that the SEC is already scrambling to meet up with the demands imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act. “The SEC staff is working honorably and on overtime to keep up with the volume of rulemaking and studies they’re being directed to do,” Greene said. “You can call them up with the most reasonable request for guidance, and they’ll say, ‘We hear you, we sympathize with you, but we have 15 higher-order things that we’re dealing with right now.’”