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Open Categories Menu Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP Quarterly Newsletter | 2nd Quarter 2010
- 2 August, 2010 -
- new hedge fund regulations, News and Commentary -
- Tags : hedge fund attorney, hedge fund law newsletter, mallon p.c.
- 2 Comments
Below is our quarterly newsletter. If you would like to be added to our distribution list, please contact us.
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July 31, 2010
www.colefrieman.com
Clients and Friends,
We take this opportunity to provide you with a brief overview of the major items we have reported on over the last quarter. While we are a little late with the newsletter, the past couple of weeks have been especially busy with the passage of the Dodd-Frank reform bill. There will be continuous rulemaking and proposals over the course of the next 12 months and this newsletter will provide an overview of the issues which we will be discussing in the future. Also, please be sure to skim the ongoing compliance update below to make sure your firm is up to date with compliance.
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Financial Reform Bill – The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed by President Obama on July 21, 2010, will meaningfully change the investment management industry in a number of ways. Important changes include:
- Manager Registration – Managers to hedge funds and private equity funds will generally be required to register with the SEC by July 21, 2011 if they have $150 million or more in AUM.
- Accredited Investor Definition – The definition of accredited investor has changed. Now, investors cannot include the value of their primary residence when computing net worth. The qualified client definition may also be changed in the future.
- BD Fiduciary Standard – The SEC will study and potentially institute a fiduciary standard for broker-dealer representatives.
- Increased State Regulation of Investment Advisers – Previously, the states only had jurisdiction over managers up to $25 million of AUM. Now the states have jurisdiction over managers with up to $100 million of AUM. We have provided our comments on the increase in state regulatory jurisdiction in light of state budget shortfalls.
- Regulation of the OTC Derivatives Markets – Previously unregulated contacts (like credit default swaps) will be subject to a clearing requirement. There will be much written on this over the next few months as the CFTC and SEC begin establishing a framework for such clearing.
- Imposition of Position Limits on Certain Commodities (see below)
In addition to the changes to the securities and commodities laws, there will be a number of rulemaking initiatives by both the SEC and CFTC which will augment the statutory language of the bill.
Busy, Busy SEC – Notwithstanding preparations for the Dodd-Frank bill, the SEC has been especially busy over the last quarter. The big news was obviously the Goldman settlement, but there were a number of other SEC initiatives as well. These include:
New ADV Part 2 Released – The SEC just released the requirements for the new Form ADV Part 2 which will now be publicly available through the SEC’s Advisor Search program. New Part 2 will require registered managers to provide a narrative of their investment program and other relevant information. Managers also need to provide investors with supplements detailing certain background information about the representative directing an investor’s account. Most currently registered managers are required to post a new Part 2 during the first quarter of 2011.
Pay to Play Rule Adopted – The SEC adopted new Rule 206(4)-5 under the Investment Advisers Act prohibiting certain political contributions by investment advisory firms. Firms are urged to update their compliance policies and procedures to account for the new rule.
Advisor Representative Disclosures – The SEC updated its Advisor Search program so that information on investment adviser representatives will now be publicly available online. Prior to the update, disciplinary and other background information was only publicly available to the extent it was disclosed on the adviser’s Form ADV.
Futures/ Commodities Issues - Like the SEC, the CFTC has been very busy over the last quarter and will continue to be busy proposing rules under the Dodd-Frank bill. Accordingly, there are a number of interesting items concerning both the CFTC and NFA. These include:
Position Limits – Dodd-Frank mandates the CFTC to impose position limits across different markets including traditional futures markets, agricultural markets, and with respect to certain swap instruments. The CFTC will be releasing orders or proposed rules establishing limits within 180 days for energy commodities and within 270 days for agricultural commodities. Position limits will affect commodities transactions that have previously qualified for broad statutory exemptions and traders will need to closely monitor trading activity to avoid violating the limits when they are established and implemented.
CFTC Releases Report on NFA – The CFTC audited the NFA in 2009 to gauge how successfully the self regulatory organization implemented certain CFTC regulations. The CFTC noted a number of areas where the NFA should improve procedures. We have already seen some of the suggestions implemented and, accordingly, the registration process (in certain instances) is taking a little longer than usual.
CTA & CPO Disclosure Document Bios – For CTAs and CPOs registering with the CFTC, one area where the NFA seems to spend considerable time is the biography portion of the disclosure documents. Because of common deficiencies with respect to the biographies (or manager backgrounds), the NFA released guidance on how this part of a disclosure document should be completed.
Form 8-R Revised – Form 8-R applications for principal and associated person registration has been revised to include demographic information on the registrant. The newly added information includes sex, race, eye color, hair color, height and weight. The purpose of the additions was to help speed up the background check process for principals and associated persons.
NFA Forex Workshop Announced – In expectation of the CFTC finalizing the forex registration rules for forex CTAs, CPOs and IBs, the NFA is conducting a registration and compliance workshop for forex managers. The workshop will take place on September 25th, 2010 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. NFA staff will be on hand to discuss the registration process and to take questions from managers.
Other Notes
Hedge Fund Carried Interest – Every few months the taxation of the carried interest becomes a political football. Early in the quarter it looked like the carried interest tax would be changed as part of an unemployment extension bill. However, that bill never passed and the proposal to tax the carried interest as ordinary income died. We expect to probably hear another proposal like this in the next 12 to 18 months.
Hedge Fund Court Case – Earlier this year a court case was decided in favor of a hedge fund manager when that manager suspended redemptions and was subsequently sued by an investor. We discussed the facts of the case and the manager takeaways.
Ongoing Compliance – At the end of every quarter, managers should take time to address any ongoing compliance matters. Managers who are registered in any capacity (state, SEC or CFTC) should review their compliance calendar or policies and procedures to ensure that all quarterly compliance matters are completed. Additionally managers should always be sure to complete all state blue sky filings and commodity pool operators should make sure they complete their Rule 2-46 quarterly filings.
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For assistance with any compliance, registration, or planning issues with respect to any of the above topics, please contact Bart Mallon of Mallon P.C. (www.mallonpc.com) at 415-868-5345 or bmallon@mallonpc.com.
Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP is a hedge fund law firm with a national client base and is focused on the investment management industry. Our clients include hedge fund managers, investment advisers, commodity advisors, and other investment managers. We also provide general business and start up legal advice and have an emerging practice in real estate and cleantech.
150 Spear Street, Suite 825
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 352-2300
Fax: (646) 619-4800
Given that managers to hedge funds with AUM of $150 mm or more will need to register with the SEC, and those with up to $100 mm of AUM will need to register with the state, is it true that hedge fund managers who have AUM between $100 mm and $150 mm will not be required to register at either the SEC or the state level?
Craig,
Good question. First, managers with less than $100 million will generally not be allowed to register with the SEC. Such managers will look to the laws of the state where they have a place of business to determine whether they will need to be registered. Second, if a manager has both a hedge fund and separate account clients and has more than $100 million of AUM, then that manager will be required to register with the SEC.
So, if a manager provides investment advice only to a hedge fund and has less than $150 million of AUM, then state laws where the manager has a place of business (residence) will control. Many states have exemptions for hedge fund managers so it will depend on the state. For instance, currently in CA a manager to a hedge fund with more than $25 million is exempt from registration with CA. We will wait until some aspects of the bill are clarified, but it could be that a CA manager with (only) a hedge fund client with $140 million of assets will not be subject to registration with either the state or the SEC. However, we will need to see how the rule-making process plays out.
Hope this helps.
Bart