Section 208(a) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as well as prior statements made by the SEC, make it clear that an investment adviser is prohibited from using its registration status to suggest that the Commission has approved, recommended or sponsored the adviser. The fact remains, however, that being an SEC registered investment adviser (RIA) carries weight in the industry if for no other reason than registration with the Commission is a threshold issue for some investors. This final article in our three-part series outlining the steps that exempt reporting advisers (ERAs) must take to transition to RIA status reviews the key regulatory filings that RIAs must file, examines amendments that ERAs may need to make to their fund documents in anticipation of their change in registration status and provides insight into what newly registered advisers should expect from the SEC examination process. The first article discussed the circumstances under which an ERA would be required to register as an RIA, along with considerations for ERAs augmenting their compliance programs. The second article outlined key policies and procedures that ERAs should consider when drafting their compliance manuals. For more on the examination of RIAs, see “OCIE 2017 Examination Priorities Illustrate Continued Focus on Conflicts of Interest; Branch Offices; Advisers Employing Bad Actors; Oversight of FINRA; Use of Data Analytics; and Cybersecurity” (Jan. 26, 2017).