03.17.22

Our client Beneficient (Ben, for short) operates in a highly regulated industry as a provider of financial services for the alternative asset investor. As much has been the case with other financial service sectors (for example, the credit card industry), strong regulations actually serve the industry by reinforcing public trust. At the same time, regulations must also meet the specific needs of the industry itself. For Ben, the state of Kansas offered the possibility of a welcoming regulatory environment. Working in cooperation with the state legislature in Topeka, as well as with leaders in the state’s banking and financial services industry, Ben has been instrumental in the passage of the Technology Enabled Financial Fiduciary Institutions Act – aka the TEFFI Act. SullivanPerkins created a series of communications materials (starting with the TEFFI logo) in support of the proposed legislation, typically under very tough “needed for the committee tomorrow” deadlines. TEFFI was successfully passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2021, and Ben is currently engaged in a pilot implementation program, under the new regulation.