ACA Webcasts Detail Exempt Reporting Adviser Qualifications and Compliance Obligations

While the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) repealed the exemption from registration found in Section 203(b)(3) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) historically relied upon by most hedge fund managers with fewer than 15 clients, it created several more narrowly tailored adviser registration exemptions, including separate exemptions for advisers solely to venture capital funds and advisers solely to private funds with aggregate regulatory assets under management (Regulatory AUM) of less than $150 million (private fund adviser exemption).  See “Registration, Reporting, Disclosure and Operational Consequences for Hedge Fund Managers of the SEC’s New ‘Regulatory Assets Under Management’ Calculation,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 5, No. 9 (Mar. 1, 2012).  These advisers now fall into a newly created class of advisers called exempt reporting advisers.  Although exempt reporting advisers are exempt from SEC registration, they are nonetheless required to fulfill certain regulatory obligations not applicable to unregistered advisers, including completing certain items in Part 1A of Form ADV, maintaining certain books and records and submitting to SEC examinations.  Exempt reporting advisers are also subject to other compliance obligations imposed by the Advisers Act, including the pay-to-play restrictions contained in Rule 206(4)-5.  See “Key Elements of a Pay-to-Play Compliance Program for Hedge Fund Managers,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 3, No. 37 (Sep. 24, 2010).  With this in mind, the ACA Compliance Group (ACA) held two separate webcasts to highlight issues important to advisers that may qualify as exempt reporting advisers.  This article summarizes some of the highlights from both webcasts with relevance to hedge fund managers.

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